Here After
by Xx Kiamii xX
Summary: Auror Potter never expected to find a baby in Surrey, a place he had grown up. 16-year-old Harry never expected to find himself as a baby and in the year 2016. What's the boy-who-lived to do? Welcome Epilogue spoilers and the joys of babyhood. HP/GW HG/RW
1. What the

**Here After **

**by Kiamii**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Harry Potter. **

**Note: Wrote this for the heck of it. I made up most of the ages for the younger generation and tried my best for the older generation. Don't like, don't read. As simple as that. There may be slight confusion in the beginning but it's all intended.**

**Chapter One "What the?"**

_Happy is he who gains wisdom from another's mishap. - Publilius Syrus _

_(I now own a Quotation dictionary and I intend to have fun with it!) _

Auror Harry James Potter apparated back to Grimmauld Place with his beautiful wife Ginny Potter and daughter Lily. The nine year old looked very put off that she couldn't attend Hogwarts for another whole two years. The little redheaded girl sulked and stomped up the stairs towards her room. The Potter couple shared a look before Ginny followed her daughter with a sigh. Harry shook his head, bewildered as to why Lily was being so sulky. She'd see Albus and James soon enough he mused. The 36 year old man looked around his kitchen with a grin, his piercing green eyes taking in the many changes that had happened since the defeat of Voldemort. He glanced at his watch and nearly swore aloud before loudly calling his wife and daughter that he'd be home later. He quickly threw powder into the fireplace, stepped in, and called his destination.

Spinning unpleasantly, the man-who-defeated-Voldemort landed as gracefully as possible in his office. Ron opened the door at the sound of the commotion and grinned at Harry.

"Morning mate. Just saw you at the platform. Thought you'd never make it," Ron said.

"Hopefully no one noticed," Harry sighed, ruffling his own black raven locks before a commotion was heard. The two best friends since eleven glanced at each other before donning on the Auror uniform, Harry adding his Captain badge to his own shirt. The two aurors quickly moved out of the room, heading towards their own squads. With an air of leadership, Harry lead his team towards the portkeys, inquiring as to what the alert was for.

"It seems there was a large explosion in a muggle place called Privet Drive in Surrey," explained auror Rachel Knight. Harry nodded and they took the portkeys. They landed in Surrey and Harry scanned his surroundings, immediately finding where the explosion hit and his blood ran cold as he saw it was where number four had been. In the center was a bundle and Harry ordered his team to check perimeter while he nodded to Ron who followed as the two went to look at the unknown object. As they drew closer, their eyes widened and they ended up speeding up their steps. There, in the dead center of the burnt ground, was a child. The baby was around one perhaps and Harry gently rolled the baby over, seeing the bruises on the arm and noticing how thing the child was. He discovered the baby was also a boy at the very least.

"Ron, get ahold of the healers at St. Mungos and tell them I'm bringing a baby with me. I think he was the cause of the explosion. Johnson! Start questioning the muggles around the neighborhood who are around. Stephens, go with Johnson and obliviate any muggles who answer in the positive that they've seen something _after_ Johnson gets their responses written. I don't want another repeat of last time please!" ordered Harry. He watched the three wizards do as he asked and he gently lifted the frail baby up into his arms, leaning the small head against his shoulder and trying to keep the boy still. The child in his arms whimpered in pain and Harry waited as Ron disapparated before following a few minutes later after making sure he looked around clearly so he could record it in a pensieve...

**16-year-old Harry's Pov**

The sound of voices pierced his consciousness, waking him up. With a groan, Harry awoke to find himself laying in a hospital bed at what could only be St. Mungos. The sixteen year old boy-who-lived blinked in surprise, wondering how he had gotten there when he last remembered fighting Severus Snape before he had been hit with an unknown curse by Bellatrix Lestrange. He also noted he was surrounded by bars of some sort. He tried to sit up only to find it very much painful. A small whimper escaped him and this startled Harry for making even a noise from the pain. He was startled as the door to the room opened and Harry noted he wasn't wearing his glasses, but he could see the unfamiliar person clearly.

"Hello there little one, my name is Nurse Williams. So you're name is little Alex huh? You're blankey has it on the edge." she said kindly and Harry found himself looking at her. She didn't know who he was? Blankey? What the ruddy hell was going on here! Harry raised a hand to ruffle his hair when he stopped in surprise at not only the bandages on his arm, but the _tiny_ hand in front of him.

What the hell? The nurse smiled at him and nodded to herself, pardoning herself for a moment and leaving the room and a baffled Harry behind. He looked down at his body to discover faintly that he was wrapped in a soft baby blue blanket and that he was very tiny. And here he had been thinking nothing could surprise him now. This just took the cake. Harry's eyes found the calender hanging off the wall and his eyes popped in a wider surprise than before.

_September 1, 2016_ was the date on the wall. He was nearly 21 years into the future. Holy. Mother. Of. Merlin. Harry had just enough time to grasp what had happened before he promptly began to think. He was in the future and they all thought he was a baby named Alex then... He'd just have to pretend he was one and hopefully find any sort of information out if he could. With that thought he laid down just in time for someone to enter the room, making Harry's eyes widen in shock.

**36-year-old Harry's Pov**

After checking with the nurse that the baby had awoke Auror Harry Potter found himself sitting beside the bed and he watched as the baby sat up, flinching at the pain. Harry gently pressed the baby back down to lay.

"Woah there baby boy, take it easy," laughed the man. Alex squirmed in his crib making Harry chuckle a little. He couldn't believe he had found the baby in the place he had grown up and to top it all off, he was willing to bet the baby was magical. He thought for a minute and stood up, leaning over the crib to peer at the baby. He lightly brushed a stray black lock of hair from the baby's face and smiled at the piercing green eyes that reminded him of his own only these eyes were softer and had a hint of hazel in them it seemed. His hair was also black with small red tips.

"So you're name is Alex huh," murmured Harry as he reached in and lifted Alex up. He lightly tapped the boy on his bottom as he held him against his shoulder, subconsciously seeing if the boy needed a change. He didn't thankfully and Harry waited for Alex's doctor to come and he did a few minutes later. Alex was quiet during the whole thing and that in itself was surprising for all of Harry's children constantly wiggle and whined as babies.

"Just set Alex on the table over here for me please, Auror Potter," said Dr. Livingston. Harry nodded and rested Alex on the cushioned table on his back. Alex wiggled on the table, looking at Harry and for a moment Harry thought he could see the baby look mortified as the doctor took off the hospital issued sleeper. The doctor lightly tickled the boy's tummy and proceeded to give him a full check up, running his wand over the baby as he checked his heart rate and such. The child was silent during the examination during the whole time and the doctor told Harry that he could release the baby today.

"Now to figure out where your mummy and daddy are," sighed Harry as he picked up the baby, "you don't look like one who would like an orphanage very much."

"Bye bye," came the baby's answer as Harry carried him to the crib. Harry paused and looked at the baby.

"Mummy and daddy went bye bye did they?" asked Harry softly as he looked at the little boy's shy face. When the baby nodded, seemingly pleased Harry understood him, he yawned and this brought a small smile on Harry's face.

"How about you come stay with me kiddo?" suggested Harry, positive the baby was able to understand him with what he had said being evidence. When the baby again nodded, Harry put Alex down in the crib and went to search for the doctor and as well as make a few arrangements...

**Author's Note: Kind of fast paced but whatever. It's just for fun so if you want more you have to review so I know if anyone is interested. Never really done a de-aged baby before so this was interesting so far. I've got work all week so it's taking me awhile on all my stories. Blahhhh. **


	2. Babyhood

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Two "Babyhood"**

_A child tells in the street what its father and mother say at home. - The Talmud_

The sound of birds chirping in the background and soft glowing in the room was what Harry, or better known as Alex currently, woke up to. He blinked sleepily, his head turning left and right to find himself surrounded by bars much like the hospital crib. Alex's sleepiness cleared and he gently sat up, noting that the pain was gone. His arm was cleared of any bandages and that a faint scar was across his right wrist. He stood up and had to grasp the rails for balance. Looking around the room, he found that he was in a nursery of some sort. The walls were charmed blue with small white eagles flying around the room on the walls, a very dim sun and clouds drifted about. On the ceiling was similar to the morning sky and Alex was distracted for a moment before looking at the shelf next to the window that had a variety of items. There was a cupboard off to the side and Alex discovered a window behind him, above the crib he was in. He looked back in the crib as something caught his eye and he was about to reach for the stuffed rabbit in the crib when the door opened, snapping his older mind back in control.

"Looks like someone is awake," came a very gentle voice and Alex turned his head only to be taken aback as he saw the adult version of Ginny Weasley. As if it hadn't been bad enough to see the adult version of himself last time he was awake. Alex stood still as she walked over to him and lifted his small body up into her arms. She had a very kind touch, Alex noticed as she cuddled him to her. She patted him on his... bottom... and exclaimed that he was wet to Alex's pure horror. He began wiggling and idly guessed she must have mistook that for him wanting to be changed for she put him down on the light blue changing table and well... let's just say Alex suffered a full handful of minutes suffering his very first nappy change.

"Good as new sweetie," Ginny laughed and she dressed Alex in a red top with a pair of denim dungarees. Alex said nothing, feeling humiliated as it was. He was carried down to the kitchen and his eyes widened once more as they passed portraits. Some of them baffled Harry for there was the adult version of Ginny and him kissing, three children surrounding the couple in another, and he even saw Hermione and Ron with two kids! As Alex turned his head over Ginny's shoulder to gaze at the largest photo, he was slightly amused to see the Weasley family had populated like rabbits.

"So this is the little boy we found was it?" came a very familiar, if not deeper, voice that made Alex turn his head to. He was staring at a very much older version of his best friend and next to Ron was Hermione, even more stunning than she had been in her 6th year with them. Alex was handed over to Hermione who lifted him up in the air for a second, smiling at him and cooing, before she rested Alex in her arms. The boy, feeling a small urge to do so, reached up and tried to pull her unbelievably softer hair. It was curly in a ringlet style instead of the frizz he was used to, so it wasn't just the baby side of him wanting to do this really, though he would argue if asked that it was all his baby's side's fault.

"He's a quiet one isn't he?" asked Ron as the adults watched the baby tug Hermione's hair. Harry reached over just as Alex looked ready to pop her hair in his mouth, and took the baby from her, looking around before spotting the baby bag they had purchased. Looking inside, he produced a blue dummy and plopped it in the baby's mouth.

"He slept through the whole night except for a few nightmares he had," Harry answered as he bounced the child in his arms, "which was odd for me. I had a baby monitor on and everything, ready to enter the nursery in case he needed a bottle or change like James and Albus constantly wanted."

"Just because all of our children and Teddy were rowdy as babies doesn't mean all of them are," Ginny laughed as she pecked Harry on the cheek. Alex squirmed in Harry's arms until Harry sat him in the high chair. The Potter couple had pulled out Albus' old baby items and replaced quite a few. Their own tradition was that each baby they took care of had their own color. Teddy had been given orange, James had red, Albus had green, and Lily had purple. They had decided on blue for little Alex and had done little adjustments here and there to change up the nursery. Alex looked at Harry, seemingly confused, before the man tied a bib around Alex and summoned a bottle, giving it a very small heating charm to warm up the bottle to the right temperature. After checking, he gave Alex the bottle and the baby stared at him for a second before taking the bottle and sucking on it.

"He's very different from any baby we raised," Ginny stated and Harry nodded. An owl came through the customary built window, startling the baby into dropping his bottle and crying a little. Hermione went to soothe the child while Harry took the letter. Ron and Ginny, as always, read over his shoulder.

_Hey mum and dad,_

_James was right for once. I made Slytherin and Rose made Ravenclaw. Thought I'd tell you that myself since Rose is probably too eager to get into those silly books. Hows Lily and Hugo? I miss everyone already but Hogwarts is great! I met Scorpius Malfoy and Kevin Ross who are both my roommates. They're not so bad and Scorpius tells me how his father and you hated each other in school. Is that true dad! Well also all the kids looked at me when I said you were my dad. Is your fame really that big still? That was like ages ago!_

_See you,_

_Albus S. Potter_

"My little girl is a Ravenclaw, I knew it." Ron said with a shake of his head, "Now I can only depend on Hugo to get into Gryffindor."

"Ronald Weasley! You will not pressure our son into anything," Hermione chastised as she had finally calmed Alex down and got him drinking his bottle again. Ron grinned at his wife before excusing himself, claiming he needed to fetch Hugo from school and that he'd get Lily as well. Now that Alex looked, he could see the time on the wall read around 3pm. Had he really slept that long? He remembered waking up every now and then from a nightmare only to be soothed by a voice. Looking at the clock closer he could see the little hands like Molly Weasley's clock at home, and smiled.

"So Hugo and Lily both know we have a baby in the house right?" inquired Ginny as she lifted Alex up and patted his back. Alex didn't hear the answer as he let out a baby burp, surprising himself, and he blushed a little which thankfully went unnoticed. She untied the bib from his neck and put the boy in the playpen they had set up. Harry looked at the confused baby and chuckled. The three adults sat at the dining room table, talking about how Albus and Rose were doing before Ron came through the door with Lily and Hugo. The two were laughing about something and both ran to greet their mothers.

"How was school flower?" Harry asked as he pulled his little girl on his lap. Lily giggled and hugged her father, telling him all about her day. Hugo was telling his mother much the same thing and how happy he was they were in most of the same classes. Lily finished and finally took notice of the small baby in the playpen, looking at her curiously. She slid off her dad's lap and walked over to him, lighting up as she took in his appearance.

"He's adorable mummy! Are we keeping him!" she squealed as she knelt down and tickled the baby's tummy, evoking a small giggle.

"He's not a puppy honey," Harry laughed, "and he'll be staying here until we can find any living relatives of his. Speaking of which, I'll have to take him in for a blood test and such. Until then, please be nice to Alex. He's only about 14 months old."

"I will daddy!" Lily said eagerly as she stood up and excused herself, rushing upstairs to change out of her school uniform. Harry stood up telling them he needed to probably take Alex to the Auror department to find out who his blood parents were and the smaller details. He lifted a quiet Alex up and stepped into the floo after taking the baby bag from Ginny, calling out his destination after Ron saying he needed to get to work as well.

When he stepped out of the fireplace with Alex, he found the boy burying his head into his shoulder, obviously disliking the floor. He chuckled a little and bounced him around as Ron stepped out behind him. The two best friends took a few minutes to get Alex calm before walking towards their destination.

"Good afternoon Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley," greeted Auror Noble. The two nodded and Harry raised Alex up a little.

"We need a blood test on the little one here. He was the cause of the explosion in Surrey a day ago or so." Harry answered. The Auror nodded and led them inside to where a few others were running scans on items they found at the scene. After instructing them to place Alex on the table, he began to pull out a knife, making Alex whimper. Harry rubbed his back as best as he could, telling him he was only going to make a small cut, and soothed Alex as Auror Noble took the knife and very gently made a prick on his finger. He quickly let the blood drop into a vial before he sealed the wound just as Alex began to sniff, tears in his eyes. Harry lifted Alex up into his arms, rubbing his back once more until the baby was calm. As the Auror did his spell, the three looked at the results in shock.

_Harry James Potter_

_Born July 31, 1980_

_Mother: Deceased_

_Father: Deceased_

_Living Blood Relatives: Petunia Dursley, Harry Potter_

"What the hell?" Ron exclaimed.

"Are you sure you didn't take my blood," Harry said in surprise.

"No, and it says your name as Living Relatives. Do you think... he's you from the past? Before you got your scar sir?" Auror Noble said, just as stunned as the others. Alex was looking at the screen in surprise as well, noting that Aunt Petunia was still alive.

"I don't think so, time doesn't work like that... Maybe he could be but from... an alternate universe? Where's Hermione when you need her," Harry groaned. He rocked the baby in his arms subconsciously and frowned lightly.

"Him being here would make the whole time frame become unraveled. As it hasn't happened yet, I'm thinking he isn't from our time line." said the Auror. Harry nodded in agreement.

"Nobody can find out that he is... erm... another me. We should probably keep calling him Alex. It explains why he looks a little like me, but the hazel tint in his eyes and the slightly red tips in his hair is odd." Harry stated. He cast a small diagnostic spell on the baby and found him perfectly healthy, except it was noting something. A spell?

"Someone hit him with a spell..." Harry commented, "and I have a feeling that's what caused all of this. We'll have to examine this closely but until then, I'm going to adopt him magically. This way he'll be Alex Potter." The other two nodded and agreed to keep it a secret. As Auror Noble went to get the adoption papers so they could hurry the process along, Ron turned to Harry.

"Blimey mate, you always seem to be involved in the craziest things even now." Ron said. Harry grinned, rolling his eyes, before looking down at the silent child. He studied Alex closely, wondering if he had ever looked like that as a baby himself. He looked very similar to him now that he thought about it. His nose wrinkled slightly and Alex sneezed, evoking a smile from the man. Auror Noble returned soon enough and Harry passed Alex to Ron who held him as best as possible while Harry filled in the paper work.

"Name? Alexander Potter. Though I wonder where that blanket with the name Alex came from." Harry said aloud.

"There was a baby born in that house and the blanket did look very battered when we found him with it. Perhaps we should investigate if there was a baby named Alex there before," said Ron. Harry nodded and continued. He filled in the birth date as August 1, 2015 considering he didn't want others to know he was Harry. He named the Mother as Ginny and the Father as Harry. He also looked at Ron who instantly knew that look.

"Well I've already got James as my god kid. You named Neville Albus' godfather. Lily's godfather is George isn't that right? Name Alex's godfather as Charlie or Bill maybe. They'd be happy to you know." Ron suggested. Harry decided to leave it blank for now and he handed the adoption paper to the Auror before taking Alex back as the man did the correct spell that bound Alex as his adopted son.

"Welcome to the family little one," Harry whispered into Alex's ear as he couldn't help but think Alex would bring a whole lot of changes now.

**Author's Note: Meh, felt like writing up Chapter Two already. Surprise? If I'm nice I'll write Chapter Three too! I don't have work for a few hours. Don't bother correcting my mistakes because I won't care unless it majorly impacts the story. It's Fluffy and for the record, this is the fault of a spell and Harry can't honestly control half of what he does as a baby, but he can try to control it. Review!**


	3. Alex Potter

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Three "Alex Potter"**

**Note: I have no clue about babies and stages and stuff. Alex is supposedly 14 months but let's just say he's a little underdeveloped. **

_Often the test of courage is not to die but to live. - Vittorio Alferi_

James Sirius Potter was in a great mood. Putting aside the fact that his younger brother, Albus, had gotten into Slytherin of all houses. Well he didn't care really. Albus was still Albus in James' mind. He looked around at his table and noted all the Weasleys there. There was Victoire, the eldest cousin of them all. She was Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's eldest daughter and she was in Gryffindor too. She was dating Teddy Lupin of all people, and his dad didn't even care! His dad, Teddy's godfather, was actually pleased with the whole thing. James gagged in his head and turned his attention to Molly Weasley who was a 6th year and in Ravenclaw. The first Weasley in that house, he was told. She reminded him of his grand mum just like her namesake and James turned to see Fred Weasley whispering to his best friends John Wood and Mark Jordan. All three were in 5th year and were Gryffindors. They were like the marauders, according to his dad. A loud laugh drove James to see his cousins Roxanne Weasley and Dominique Weasley entering the great hall. Both were third years but Dominique was a Ravenclaw where as Roxanne was in good old Gryffindor.

"What's up James?" Lucy Weasley asked. They were the same age and James considered Lucy one of his best friends next to Robert Whitby and Michael Losk, his dorm mates. Lorcan and Lysander Scamander were his friends too, but they were in Hufflepuff. Albus was talking to Scorpius Malfoy over at the Slytherin table and another Slytherin boy, but James ignored this and saw his cousin Rose Weasley chatting with another Ravenclaw girl. No Weasleys or Potters in Gryffindors this year. Such a shame.

"Nothing," James loudly sighed. Lucy shook her head in amusement and took a piece of toast, loading her plate. James went back to eating before the owl post arrived. Surprisingly, Galileo their tawny family owl, landed in him. It was only the third day back! Nevertheless, he took the parchment from the owl with a thanks and opened it up, Lucy peering over his shoulder.

_To James,_

_Your father had recently come across a baby in his work and well... You'll be having a new baby brother in your life. His name is Alex and you'll get a chance to meet him this weekend as we are coming to visit with him. Send Neville our love as always. _

_Love,_

_Mum_

"A baby?" Lucy asked, baffled. The Gryffindor cousins spotted James looking quite stunned and they gathered around the eldest Potter before James handed over the letter. As each cousin read, their own eyes widened before Fred, ever the blunt one, loudly told them.

"Looks like we have another Potter cousin," Fred said. That seemed to break the tension and James blinked before looking at Albus who looked just as surprised as he did before both brothers grinned. They had a new brother which meant another family member. James found himself anticipating the upcoming weekend...

Saturday morning found James running to the great hall to meet up with Albus who looked just as impatient as he did. The two boys turned around to wait for their parents to the amusement of all those who rose early. James Potter was known for sleeping in later than the norm, so seeing him up so early was definitely a sight. As the two boys waited, their cousins passed them every now and then, all giving them a good luck before leaving. Finally they saw their parents entering and Albus ran to greet his mother and father while James followed at a slower pace. He saw a small boy on his father's hip, hiding his face in his dad's shoulder. When James reached his dad, the man smiled and knelt down, putting the baby on the ground.

"James, I want you to meet Alex." Harry said to his eldest son and James searched his father's eyes like he had done when Albus had been born and again when Lily had been joining the family. Finding what he was looking for, he grinned and knelt down to the baby, peering at the hazel green eyes staring back at him.

"`Lo there Alex. Can't call you Al so how about Lex?" James suggested and the baby cocked its head to the side in a curious manner before giggling and reaching for James. The 2nd year looked at his father for permission before he picked the baby up, surprised to find how light he was. He had never really held a baby like this, being only four years old when Lily was born. He adjusted Alex according to his father's instructions and smiled as Alex began to tug at his hair.

"He seems to like people's hair," laughed his dad as he tugged Alex's hand from James' hair and put a pacifier in the boy's mouth. Alex blinked and put his head down on James' shoulder.

"Is he always this quiet?" James asked, looking at the baby. At his father's nod, James wondered what it'd take to make the baby talk more. Alex squirmed when James accidentally let his finger poke the baby's stomach. The boy grinned and began to move his fingers in various spots, tickling the baby who giggled through his pacifier. Harry was laughing as he saw the action before looking at his watch. They had chosen this day since it was the weekend and Hermione and Ron were with Rose already at the Three Broomsticks like they agreed to meet. Lily and Hugo were with Hermione and Ron thankfully.

"We should get going. Your Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron want to see you too you know," Ginny said and James nodded happily, handing his baby brother to Harry. Albus peered at the baby as they walked, too scared to ask his dad to hold him in fear that he'd drop baby Alex. The baby was looking back at him, staring intensely which was somewhat abnormal for any kind of baby really, but Albus fortunately had no experience with babies so wouldn't know this. Alex finally turned back to look ahead of where he was being carried, looking around at the future Hogsmeade in surprise. Everything was slightly different, more open and welcoming... Was Voldemort gone here? Was this why his future self didn't look so tense about much? He was an auror and a captain at that if the badge he wore before was any indication. He still couldn't get over the fact he had married Ginny and had three kids, Albus looking very similar to how Harry looked at 11.

They had arrived at The Three Broomsticks soon enough and upon entering Albus went to greet their little sister. James instead went to his aunt and uncle to say hi. Harry chuckled and put Alex down on Ginny's lap when she sat, going off to ask for a high chair. While he could normally conjure one, the Three Broomsticks had specifically charmed ones that were for children. He got one after flashing a quick, charming smile at them and saying his name even though the place looked mildly packed it was delivered to him fast. He grinned at the disapproving look on Ginny's face for doing that and he lifted Alex up into the high chair. The baby looked put out but sat still as Harry buckled him in and took out the pacifier.

"So Neville invited us to tea after this," Hermione spoke up after she finished ordering. Rose was chattering with Albus about Scorpius while Lily and Hugo talked about what they did at school yesterday. James was left next to the high chair and he glanced at the baby before smiling again. He had always hated these small meetings only for the fact he had no one his age to have fun with, which was why he loved big parties with the Weasley family or being at Hogwarts. He did feel a little guilty for baby Alex who wouldn't have any family his age when he went, or anyone in Hogwarts for that matter.

The food arrived and James watched as his dad cut up bits of Alex's food and gave a plastic non sharp fork to the baby to try and eat by himself. He kept dropping his food and James made sure no one was looking at him before he took the fork slowly in his hands, smiling at Alex's pout before he stabbed a piece of the food and held it to Alex's mouth. The baby looked at him, almost incredulously, before opening his mouth reluctantly. As James began to hand feed him, he was oblivious to his father stopping in a conversation to Ron about the newest case and the two men watching him.

"Looks like James has taken a liking to your new youngest," Ron commented lowly so no one could hear, least of all attention turn to James and embarrass the poor kid who tried so hard to live up to his namesakes. Harry smiled as he watched his eldest son quietly laughing when Alex tried to refuse a bite and ended up with some of it on his top. James reached over and grabbed a napkin, doing his best to wipe the mess up the muggle way. James was looking around and when he caught his dad's stare, the preteen blushed a bright red to nearly match his sister's hair. Lily was the only one of his children to inherit the Weasley red hair, though it was Albus who inherited his green eyes. James was certainly unique, but if Harry had to connect him to anyone it would be his own father - James Potter Sr.

Thankfully Harry and Ron were the only ones to have noticed James' interaction with the baby and Harry stood up, picking Alex up out of the highchair after a quick _scourgify_ and he placed Alex gently in James' lap, handing him the bottle of milk. James looked at him for a second, astonished, before his eyes drifted down to the wiggling baby who was looking around as if embarrassed. James grinned and tried his best to get Alex comfortable on his lap, only knowing when he was by the amount of wriggling. With that task done, he brought the bottle up to Alex's lips and like with the feeding, Alex looked at him in disbelief before accepting his bottle, his small hands wrapping around the item, suckling on it a little until Alex's eyelids began to droop, letting James take the bottle from him and continue to hold it up as he began to fall asleep, still suckling.

"Awe James," Lily teased as she finally noticed what her brother was doing. Her words brought attention onto him causing James to scowl.

"It seems he likes you," Ginny said helpfully, "Whenever your dad and I try that he wiggles a lot more so we usually let him try eating by himself." James allowed a small pleased look to appear on his face. Alex had finally stopped drinking and James put the bottle down, looking at Harry who silently mimicked how to burp a baby. James clumsily lifted Alex to his shoulder and hesitantly patted the baby's back, sighing in relief when Alex let out a small burp. He drew the baby back to his lap and looked accomplished as Alex was completely asleep. Harry looked at his son proudly and went back to conversing with Ron until it was time for the group to go back to Hogwarts. James insisted he carry Alex, though he did his best to be gentle. Albus whined that he hadn't gotten to see his new brother, but was content to walk next to James, looking at the baby with wonder. Eventually they reached the castle and James reluctantly gave his new baby brother up to Harry. In the few hours he had met Alex, he found himself positively attached to the baby. Maybe because Alex was so frail looking that James had been scared every now and then he'd hurt the toddler.

"We're probably going to try and get him talking a little more, and see if he can walk yet." Harry was telling Rose who had asked about Alex being 14 months. He rested the toddler against his chest, letting the head lean against his shoulder. He dug in his pocket and produced the pacifier once more. In his sleep, Alex looked a lot more like a normal baby than anything else, burying his face into the shoulder provided and clenching as well as unclenching Harry's shirt. James grinned. Yes, he was certainly looking forward to Christmas and seeing the baby again.

"We better get going if we want to make it on time to see Neville. We'll join you three later," Hermione said and the children nodded, saying their respective goodbyes. James did give Alex a quick and small hug before disappearing up the stairs leading to Gryffindor. Rose kissed Alex on the head, hugged and kissed her mother and father, before she went to the stairs leading to Ravenclaw. Albus was the last to go and he smiled, hugging his family, before going to the stairs leading down to the dungeons where Slytherin resided.

"We're missing a Hufflepuff in this picture," Ron joked and was hit on the arm by Hermione, though she was laughing as well as Ginny and Harry. Hugo and Lily looked at their parents in confusion before shrugging, following the adults as they walked towards the Herbology office.

**Author's Note: So this was mainly in James Potter's POV if you hadn't notice. I felt the eldest potter needed a little interaction with his new sibling the most. No idea what anyone cept Albus and Lily look like in the future when it comes to the grand kids of Molly Weasley so I'm making it up again. I worked on Thanksgiving day today and ate alone, so I felt like writing something. Lol. Hope you enjoyed. Make my day by reviewing about this one please?**


	4. Forgetting

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Four "Forgetting"**

**Warning: Flufff~ And since I'm sooo not familiar with British terms. I might say either term for the same thing. Sorry if I do. I'll try to get into the habit of the british term for it.**

_We have all forgotten more than we remember. - Proverb._

"Any luck?" Ron asked a few days later as he stepped through the floo alone. Ginny was at work, having gotten a job as a Quidditch instructor for children, leaving Harry home alone with Alex since it was his day off and his daughter was at muggle school. Ron found his best friend sitting on the floor in front of baby Alex who was wearing only his nappy, a pair of velcro sneakers, and a Gryffindor tee. The baby was looking annoyed and refused to stand up it seemed while Harry looked put out. The Auror captain looked up at Ron and stood up before he answered him.

"None. He refuses to talk and I've been at this for like a week it seems even though it's only been three days since we visited James and the others." Harry sighed.

"Teddy is coming over today, isn't he?" Ron suggested. Harry looked at his best friend and brother-in-law before his eyes lit up, finally given an idea to work with. Now all he had to do was wait for his godson to show up. He scooped Alex up into his arms and carried him to the kitchen. He sat Alex in the high chair and placed a sippy cup in front of the baby, looking at Ron while Alex clumsily picked up the cup and began to drink from it, trying his best not to spill though it was charmed to prevent much of a mess. The wonders of magic...

"When did you take him off the bottle?" Ron asked curiously.

"Just two days ago in fact, though I think I'm going to keep him on it only at night. It seems to comfort him. I tried to get him off last night and he ended up with a nightmare. Not sure of what though. He's only 14 months and I was 15 months old when my parents died so he wouldn't have seen their deaths." Harry explained as he checked to make sure Alex was alright with drinking the milk by himself. The two aurors talked about a new case that had arrived when the floor dinged and out stepped Teddy Lupin. Right at that moment, Alex dropped his cup to Harry's slight exasperation as he reached down to pick it up. Alex was staring at Teddy with pure astonishment on his face and luckily no one noticed this.

"`Wotcher Harry! Ron!" Teddy said cheerfully.

"Hey there Teddy," Harry laughed, lifted Alex up into his arms after casting a quick cleaning charm. Teddy paused, looking at the baby for a moment. Alex had thankfully stopped looking like Teddy had three heads when attention had turned to him. Inwardly the former teen was in shock at how much this boy looked like Remus Lupin. It had taken him by surprise and he wondered if he was Remus' kid or something. Then the mother was who? Could it be Tonks! They were dating last time he checked anyways.

"Woah, I was here a month ago and you suddenly pop out a fourth kid Harry?" Teddy asked, astonished.

"He's adopted and named Alex Potter," Harry retorted, grinning. Teddy raised his arms for the baby and Alex was handed over to the young adult. Alex found himself looking wide eyed at the man who looked very similar to Remus and he wondered where the man was. Then Teddy's hair changed to bright pink like Nymphadora Tonks normally had her hair startling Alex into bawling, unable to control the baby side of him like most of the time now. Teddy frowned as the baby wailed, puzzled as to why a trick that normally made babies giggle made this one cry. He ignored Harry and Ron's amused looks at his failure and he sat on the floor with the baby, bouncing him up and down. At first he thought, dreadfully, that the baby was in need of a change but after a reluctant check, found him dry. He looked baffled at the baby before he drew Alex close to his chest. After rubbing the baby's back gently, Alex finally calmed down, his thumb going into his mouth though Teddy stopped him at the last minute, looking to Harry who handed him a dark blue dummy he had taken to carrying one around whenever.

"Hey Teddy, why don't you be Alex's godfather," Harry spoke up. Teddy looked up, aghast and immensely surprised.

"Me! I can barely keep a plant alive!"

"I thought the same thing kid when your dad asked me," said Harry with a snort. Alex was distracted by the pendant around Teddy's neck and kept trying to grab it, pouting when Teddy pulled it back at the last second. Alex kicked his legs in protest and Teddy quirked an eyebrow at the baby, finally noting the stairs were not baby proofed. At Teddy's questioning stare, Harry elaborated that Alex was fourteen months old but refused walking and talking currently. He had only said a few words since Harry and Ron had found him apparently. Teddy looked at the baby again and stood up, putting him on the floor. He then took off his pendant and walked away, sitting on the floor and holding it up slightly. The baby's eyes followed the golden wolf moving its head next to a pixie looking person that floated around the wolf pendant.

"Careful there Teddy. He likes putting things in his mouth," warned Harry though he watched as the baby frowned, his dummy bobbing up and down as he stared at the pendant before the baby grabbed the couch next to him, trying his best to heave his small body up. The three men watched in fascination as the baby determinedly stood up finally, his legs wobbily.

"Come on Lex," Harry said encouragingly, using the nickname his eldest had given Alex.

"You wanted to see it right?" Teddy asked, a small smirk on his face. Alex looked to be scowling almost, which was amusing on a baby's face, before he let go of the couch, swaying for a moment before steadying himself as best as possible. He then clumsily took one step in front of him, followed by another. He was halfway through when he lost balance and fell, his dummy falling from his mouth and Alex having tears in his eyes, mostly looking frustrated. Surprisingly he didn't cry, though tears fell from his eyes in annoyance. Harry walked over to the baby and picked him up, frowning as Alex didn't burrow into his shoulder like he had taken to doing. Instead he bashed his small fist against Harry. The man looked a little surprised by his antics, seeing as Alex was normally very quiet.

"I think he's just tired maybe," Harry said as he lightly rocked the child in his arms, "but I might need to get him checked out to see how far he is set back and if anything had happened to him before we found him. That spell still gets me."

"Spell?" Teddy asked. Harry nodded.

"There was a spell on Alex when we found him and it seems to be the cause of an explosion in Surrey where he was." Harry explained as he tenderly wiped at the baby's tears. He had raised all three of his children equally with Ginny, so knew quite a lot about raising a child at the very least. Alex again kicked his legs around in displeasure causing Harry to look down at the baby.

"Want!" Alex cried, reaching his arms for the pendant. The three men were slightly surprised by the baby's demand and Teddy frowned before dangling the item above Alex.

"Did you guys buy any magically moving toys yet?" Teddy asked.

"I wasn't sure if he'd react well to them yet considering we had found him in a muggle neighborhood though he's magical so I had blocked the magic on most of the toys. Now I think I should. It seems he was very much surrounded by those types of toys." Harry stated as the baby giggled and cooed, his arms batting at the pendant happily. Harry smiled, glad to see Alex happier now and he wiggled a few fingers into the baby's tummy causing Alex to squeal in laughter.

"He's a fussy baby," Teddy commented.

"Normally he's unusually quiet." replied Ron as he ruffled Teddy's hair, grinning at his brother-in-law's godson who looked indignant. The young man withdrew his pendant and put it back around his neck.

"So James told us you were snogging a certain someone," teased Harry as he finally put the baby into the playpen, undoing the charm on a magical stuffy inside. The baby cooed at the hooting owl and began to poke the owl, smiling happily when the owl made noises at each poke. Teddy, meanwhile, turned bright red as he suffered his godfather's teasing about becoming part of the family. He poked his tongue out at Ron who had commented about Alex getting a playmate in the family at that rate and he smiled at the child in the playpen.

"It's not as if we had done i-"

_Screeeech!_

The owl had squawked seemingly indignant and the baby looked up innocently, having just pinched the owl's beak shut. Harry and Ron shared very amused grins while Teddy stared at the baby, baffled. The kid was certainly cunning, he decided. He rolled his eyes at the other two adults' laughter. He plucked the owl from the child and ignored the baby's glare. He was in the process of fiddling with the owl when he felt it pulled from his hands and watched in shock as it landed in the baby's hand, Alex hugging it.

"Mine!" Alex said, upset it seemed.

"Looks like someone is a powerful wizard," commented Harry as he picked Alex up from the contraption. The others nodded their agreement and Ron told the two he needed to get to work early to file paperwork. Teddy offered to go with Harry to pick up Hugo and Lily. After getting a pair of muggle jeans on Alex, Harry checked around the house for anything he needed. The auror thanked his godson and with Teddy's help, strapped Alex safely in the muggle style stroller considering it was quite a walk from the school to their home but they never took the car much, preferring the good outdoors. Alex kicked his legs around, his dummy back in his mouth, as he looked left and right at all the things around. He felt slightly sleepy since that morning, but he ignored that in favor of the very cute girls in front of him, stopping Harry as they cooed at Alex. After awhile though he began to feel very tired and, dare he say it even in his own head, cranky. He whined and began to tear up, causing Harry to hastily tell the girls goodbye, pulling a flirting Teddy with him, and hurry to the school where the two nine year olds were.

"Daddy!" Lily said happily, "What kept you?"

"A few girls thought Alex was irresistible. He's going to be a heart breaker when he's older, your brother," Harry said with a grin. Lily giggled and Hugo grabbed their bags, following his uncle along as they returned home. The two kids chattered around while Alex had grown very quiet, his dummy quietly being chewed on. Teddy looked at the child in concern and waited until they returned to the house to tell Harry. The auror frowned and picked Alex up, noting with worry that he was getting a little too warm for his liking.

"I think he's getting sick," Harry sighed as he brought Alex upstairs and into the nursery. He had forgotten that babies were more vulnerable to diseases and after a quick spell from Madam Pomfrey he had learned a few years back after James was born, he discovered it wasn't a muggle sickness. Bugger. That meant it was going to be more difficult. Harry had forgotten to buy childrens potions as well, which meant a trip to Diagon Alley and being the former Boy-Who-lived, now Man-who-conquered-Voldemort was difficult if you wanted to do some shopping. Kreacher was no longer alive, having died of old age when Lily was born and Hermione would kill him if he even thought about getting another house elf though he was tempted.

"Teddy!" Harry called, "Can you watch the kids for me? Ginny isn't due home until tonight because of the game and I need to go out and get something from the Alley."

"So you need me to watch the kids for a few hours," joked Teddy, knowing how hard it was for his godfather to get around in public. At least at Hogsmeade no one had made much of a fuss, because he had looked anywhere but at the general public and it might have had to do with a small notice-me-not charm around his family that day except for when they were in the Three Broomsticks and that only because no one bothered looking for him there at the time thankfully. Harry nodded guiltily and his godson laughed, telling him it was alright and that he'd handle everything, though Teddy really didn't know what he had just signed up for.

Magical babies with magical illnesses were not the most pleasant of things to happen, as he'd find out.

**Author's Note: Hehehe I hope this was enjoyable. It's a little more of Harry of the past unable to control his baby side of him. A sick magical baby = chaos. Whoot! This is somehow easier to write than other stories. Anyways, you should review!  
**


	5. Sick Days

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Five "Sick days"**

_Conscience and reputation are two things. Conscience is due to yourself, reputation to your neighbor. - St. Augustine_

_Achoo!_

"Bloody merlin this kid is going to be the death of me!" cursed Teddy as he ducked another oncoming spell. The baby was crying now, unable to help it as he felt really hot now. Teddy now wished he had gone to get what his godfather needed instead, wishing Harry would hurry back. This kid was ruddy powerful when it came to accidental magic. Every sneeze, cough, and even whimper caused some foreign spell or another to come flying from the baby. Currently Alex was laying in nothing but his nappy in his crib, seeing as how Teddy couldn't reach him without Alex's magic letting loose. Lily and Hugo had abandoned helping him out, each having already been hit with something. Teddy had thankfully reversed Lily's "noodle" hair and Hugo's abnormally large nose. So far it had only been an hour too.

"Alex! Come one kiddo, calm down," called Teddy to no luck. Alex continued bawling, feeling stuffy and sick. Just as Teddy was about to give up, the floo dinged and he headed downstairs, ignoring his now purple skin and elephant ears as he came face to face with Hermione Granger.

"Oh dear," Hermione said in surprise, "I was only picking up Hugo but I'm guessing something happened?"

"Alex is sick with a magic illness. Harry doesn't know yet what kind and he's getting the potions a baby can take." Teddy said miserably. Hermione nodded knowingly and reversed the spells on Teddy for him, hurrying upstairs and into the nursery where she cast _protego_ over herself, ignoring Teddy's exclamation of "Why didn't I think of that?" as she entered the nursery. She tsked at the wreckage and instructed Teddy to reverse the magic and clean up while she tended to the baby. She leaned over the crib and place a hand on the baby's forehead, frowning at how high it had gotten. She then found a small black spot on his tummy and immediately knew what it was. The dragon flu. Nasty little bugger and it was stronger than the normal muggle type flu.

"Poor dear," she murmured as she cast a cooling charm on the crib and noticed he was in need of a change. She summoned a nappy to her and the other items and chose to change him in the crib, noting faintly that he had other symptoms as well. She quickly changed his nappy and Alex had finally stopped crying, though he was constantly whimpering and sneezed or coughed every now and then. She continued to gently cool him down for the next hour while Teddy went downstairs to entertain Lily and Hugo. Finally Harry stepped through the floo and headed to the nursery after getting told by Teddy that Hermione was there.

"Dragon Flu. The black spot on his tummy gives it away. He is also having diarrhea and he's coughing. Do you have a fever reducer and the other things?" she asked. They had gone through this thing only once, when Teddy was around two years old. This kind of thing wasn't exactly common and Harry had been unprepared with potions because it had been awhile since he had dealt with a sick baby. Harry nodded and handed the items over, helping her work as they catered to the baby until he was finally asleep, sucking his dummy as he was dressed in a sleeper for the night. Harry held the baby as the two walked downstairs to see Teddy talking to Lily and Hugo about the dangers of a sick baby, to their amusement. Harry coughed and his godson jumped, startled, before grinning sheepishly.

"So I have to get home and all," Teddy said as he made his escape. Hermione shook her head and kissed Harry on the cheek in parting as she took Hugo with her through the floo. Lily looked at her father imploringly and Harry transfigured a nearby spoon into a bassinet since they hadn't thought to buy one. They probably needed more clothes and necessities for the baby soon, but Harry didn't fancy going out again to shop. No doubt the pictures they took today of him buying from a baby store would be in tomorrow's paper. He laid Alex down in the bassinet and looked at his daughter with a smile.

"Teddy said magical babies who get sick are monsters," Lily said innocently. Harry chuckled and kissed his daughter on the forehead.

"Only when they are really sick baby girl," he assured, "but Alex was just feeling under the weather. He should be alright soon. Speaking of which, did Teddy tell you that Alex was walking and talking today?"

"No way!" Lily said excitedly before lowering her voice sheepishly at the baby's slight whimper, "What did he say?"

"Want and Mine," repeated Harry with a grin. Lily giggled and Harry set to making a cup of pumpkin juice for his little girl and a coffee for him. As father and daughter talked together, Alex slept on peacefully in the bassinet next to Harry, occasionally reaching out only to have Harry rub his back soothingly, his finger being grasped by the baby's hand. Lily was in the middle of telling Harry all about a new boy who apparently had very rich parents when Ginny stepped through the floo. She frowned lightly upon seeing the transfigured bassinet holding a sleeping Alex when it was already 6pm.

"He caught the Dragon flu apparently. He's only just now gotten enough sleep. I think he fell asleep around 5pm," explained Harry.

"Poor baby," cooed Ginny as she lifted the sleeping child up into her arms, giving her daughter a kiss on the forehead and kissing Harry fully on the lips. Alex sleepily tugged on Ginny's robe, whimpering slightly. Ginny rocked him gently and told Harry she was going to put the baby to bed. She lowered Alex into the crib and smiled as he leaned into her touch, his dummy slipping a little from his mouth. She watched as his stomach went up and down steadily as he breathed, his small features looking like Harry in a way and she wondered if her husband had blood adopted the little baby. Harry had only told her that all living relatives of the baby were dead and he had made the choice of adopting Alex instead of sending him into an orphanage. She fondly remembered the days leading up to and after James was born when Harry had always come home with a stray animal that he'd found while working on a case. Ginny had stubbornly refused to allow any after her firstborn had been nearly bit by a cat.

"Mama," came a soft voice and Ginny looked down to see Alex still asleep, but his hand was reaching out. She smiled, feeling younger again when all three of her own children were that small, and kissed Alex on the forehead before adjusting his dummy so that he could continue to suckle on it. She left the room to talk with her husband and daughter about their day, leaving the baby to sleep...

_Harrry... Haaarryyyyy. You let her kill me!_

"Nuu.. Siri," whimpered Alex very slightly. He rolled on his side and with a jolt found himself awake. He wasn't in the department of mysteries but instead found himself in a nursery. He blinked before memories came back to him and he let the dummy in his mouth fall. He sat up and frowned lightly, noting it was still night time. There was a small night light next to the crib so he could thankfully see. He looked around before spotting the stuffed rabbit he had first seen upon being brought here a few days back. He hesitated before taking hold of the rabbit. He smiled shyly to himself when he felt how soft it was, and soothing for him. He was still scared to go back to sleep, not wanting to face remembering Sirius' death. He let himself whimper before stopping. He was a ruddy baby and he was powerless to stop the tears going down his cheeks and the quiver in his lips. Memories of his past haunted him dangerously and his baby body was too young to handle all of it. To top it all off he still felt stuffy and hot.

The door opened and Alex looked up to see Harry, or future Harry really, looking at him with a sad smile.

"Another nightmare baby boy?" Harry asked as he lifted Alex out of the crib. He was about to leave the stuffy when Alex squirmed, trying to hold onto the comforting item. Alex was thankful when Harry let him have it and he mentally frowned. Calling him Harry was starting to making him confused, seeing as he was Harry too... Or rather he was Alex now. Harry had adopted him hadn't he? What the aurors had said might have been true. He was in an alternate universe or something considering something would have changed the minute he was seen or he had discovered who he had married. What was happening to Hermione and Ron then? His world?

"Shhh, Harry's here." soothed Harry as he bounced Alex up and down in his arms. Alex looked at the man a little, wondering how this Harry had overcome everything in his past to be this kind of man. Alex let Harry sit him in his lap as a bottle of warm milk was given to him. Instead of taking hold of it, Alex pushed it back at Harry who looked at him before holding the bottle for Alex. The deaged teen let Harry feed him the bottle instead, finding comfort as he held the stuffy as well. Maybe it had a calming charm on it or something? Nevertheless Alex pushed aside his dignity and drank from the bottle even though his older self was in control of his body for once.

"I bet you're scared, being here with no idea where your real mummy and daddy are if you really are me," Harry said softly, "I lost a lot of people in my life after that you know. My godfather, Teddy's parents, and many more." Alex almost paused in his drinking, before hastily gulping down the milk again. So Remus and Tonks were dead? Teddy was an orphan just like Harry had been.

"I promise you'll grow up loved here, and you'll never experience someone like the Dursleys, if you stay in this world I think." Harry was whispering as Alex finished. Alex allowed himself to be burped and he looked into Harry's own green eyes for a moment before making up his mind. If he was a baby from now on and would have to grow up again or something, then he'd do his best to put all dignity aside and be one for Harry's sake. With that decision, he opened his mouth into a baby like coo.

"Daddy sad," he crooned. He figured it was worth the embarrassing words when Harry's face split into a wide grin, kissing the baby's cheek.

"No baby, Daddy is happy," Harry corrected, his forehead touching Alex's own with a smile. Absently he noted the fever was no longer there as much and as Alex giggled a little, Harry was happy that he was able to change this little one's life.

**Author's Note: Hehehe I had fun with this part. This isn't a long story, though I don't even know where I'm headed with this. The whole story idea appeared in my head while I was at church and, ignoring my mom's indignant look, I had pulled out my iPhone and started typing most of it, starting the whole story when I got home. So maybe it was lucky I wrote it down. Just saying, if you have an idea, no matter where you are, write it down! I'm really surprised how easily this story is coming to me than the others I've written. Maybe this one will be done by Christmas. Who knows...**


	6. Molly Weasley

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Six "Molly Weasley"**

**Warning: Mollycoddling! Hehe get it? Also, I do a bit of another time skip. Only a couple of days, no worries.**

_Curiosity. The reason why most of us haven't committed suicide long ago. - Anonymous_

**Three Days Later...**

"Harry! How good to see you darling!" Molly's voice echoed as she practically ambushed her son-in-law in a large hug. Harry weakly said hello before he was released. Thankfully he had put his adopted son on the floor before having been embraced, predicting his mother-in-law down to a tee. Alex looked up at his father in confusion before crawling to hide behind his adopted mother. Unfortunately with his crawling, Molly instantly took notice of him and she scooped him up, peering at him with her kind eyes. Alex squirmed before settling down, allowing this very much older Mrs. Weasley to hug him though he was surprised at how gentle she was.

"So whose this little one," she cooed as she cuddled him.

"Harry found him while working a case in Surrey. So we've adopted him." Ginny answered for her husband. Molly continued cooing before she handed the baby to Harry in order to say hello to her youngest granddaughter. Alex clenched a handful of Harry's robes in his small hand, refusing to let go now. Harry chuckled and carried Alex to the living room as Molly informed them that Charlie was here visiting along with George and his wife.

"Blimey Harry, you're just determined to have the most kids aren't you?" joked George as he saw his brother-in-law enter holding a small baby in his arms. The baby was chewing on a blue dummy now, wearing a pair of denim dungarees and a white tee underneath. Harry grinned at George and sat down next to him, Charlie entering moments later. After explaining the situation, both men took a liking to the new youngest Potter. Alex was a little quiet through the whole thing but over the past three days had warmed up to a lot of the family, babbling every now and then. Harry and Ginny were happy to be called mama and daddy again by a little one, seeing as how Lily only called Harry daddy every now and then. She was such a daddy's girl.

"Okay Lex, this is your Uncle George and Uncle Charlie," Harry said with an encouraging look. Both men looked hopeful and wondered if the baby could say their names. After Harry took out the dummy for the baby, Alex looked confused for a minute before he opened his mouth and promptly closed them, looking puzzled. Finally the baby looked at the two men and cocked his head to the side.

"I don't think he can say the r's in our names," Charlie laughed.

"Did he ever call you Harry before the adoption?" George asked curiously as Harry bounced the baby on his lap, reinserting the dummy for the baby to chew on considering the child was in the stages of teething still as he had found out a few days back.

"Nope. First time he ever called me anything was when he called me daddy," Harry answered as he lightly tickled the baby. Alex giggled and wiggled in his lap, trying to escape. Harry finally stopped and pinned a kiss on the child's cheek. Alex grinned, showing his three small baby teeth to the three men. George smiled at the baby.

"He's a little like Roxanne was at that age," commented George to Alex's curiousity.

"Fred was a little biter wasn't he," Harry laughed, "Albus and Lily were sort of like that too. Alex reminds me a bit of James if I had to compare him to my children." Ah... So Fred and Roxanne were George's children. Where was his twin anyways? As the group continued talking, Alex learned that Bill had three children; Dominique, Victoire who was dating Teddy, and Louis. Ron and Hermione only had Hugo and Rose. Percy was married as well and had two daughters, Molly and Lucy. Just as Harry popped in Alex's dummy to keep him happy Angelina greeted the three men and kissed George on the cheek, to Alex's astonishment. Last he remembered, Angelina was dating Fred. Talk about twin disasters! He was very much lucky his dummy was in his mouth.

"So who is this little one?" Angelina inquired as she took in the staring baby's appearance. He resembled Harry greatly, possibly even greater than Albus did.

"My adopted son, Alex." Harry said with a grin. Angelina quirked an eyebrow at this before playfully slapping Charlie on the shoulder.

"Better get a move on Charlie. You're getting old and senile and you're still childless and single!" Angelina joked. Charlie scowled and sulked. Eventually Lily came bounding into the room and sat on the floor while her father set Alex on his feet. Alex grasped Harry's jeans slightly before looking at Lily who was holding his stuffed rabbit who he had jokingly called Babs after Ginny had read him Babbity Rabbity one evening and he had thought Babbity was a mouthful. He frowned, his dummy still in his mouth, and let go of his now father's trousers in order to reach for the bunny but found it out of his reach. Puffing his cheeks subconsciously in annoyance, the baby took a step forward clumsily and another until he was toddling awkwardly to his now sister. The adults quieted down as they spotted Alex walking and Harry's face broke out into a wide grin as he noticed the baby walking farther than he had to Teddy. Lily held the bunny out to Alex who reached for it, falling into her arms at the same time. Lily pulled him to her, putting him on her lap as he hugged his stuffy to him.

"Seems he found a stuffy to latch onto," Angelina commented, "You said he was 14 months old right? Did something happen to him when you found him?"

"As a matter of fact yes. When I was taking him into the hospital for an examination, they found a few bruises on his body and he had been found in an explosion caused by his own magic."

"Traumatic experiences will set babies back quite a few months in that regard and they tend to latch onto comfort items like their dummy or a stuffy." Angelina explained. Seeing as none of his three children had experienced any trauma, it was only natural for Harry to be a bit clueless about that tidbit. He looked at the baby with a sad smile, watching him giggle when Lily cooed next to his ear.

"Does he still drink a bottle?" George asked curiously.

"Only at night and dinnertime now. He uses his sippy cup during mornings and lunch," Harry explained, "He's been having a bit of a nightmare problem at night so I try to baby him up the most at night. It seems to be working so far." Harry had lately taken to singing a lullaby to the baby as well as rocking him to sleep, relieved when he found it worked better. Nevertheless he grinned at the familiar proud feeling he had whenever one of his kids did something good.

"Lunch!" Molly's voice called. Harry scooped Alex up from Lily's lap and carried him inside as the group entered the kitchen. Molly had brought out a high chair from the attic they kept all baby things considering the amount of kids everyone had at unknown times. He thanked her and set Alex in the high chair, buckling the strap over him before sitting next to the baby. Alex looked confused at what was happening before allowing the sippy cup and small plate of a cut up sandwich to be placed in front of him. Luckily they were finger foods and Alex picked them up piece by piece, shoving them in his mouth as Molly put a bib around him. Ginny and Harry shared a grin as Alex munched on his dinner, oblivious to his new parents' grins.

"So he's only 14 months you say," Molly said pleasantly. She absolutely doted on babies and her grandchildren were all pretty much spoiled by her. Alex finished half of his food and took interest in the sippy cup, grasping it and drinking down the juice in it. He idly heard bits and pieces of the conversation, something about Bill and Fleur coming today, and he let out a burp on his own when he finished, giggling in embarassment. He reached his arms out for his father who didn't notice, making the baby frown before looking sulky. The older side of him knew he was being silly but obviously the baby side overuled everything.

"Daddy!" Alex insisted, drawing his father's attention who laughed and lifted Alex up. Alex happily let Harry rest him against his chest, rubbing his back in a calming manner. Finally Alex felt sleepy and hardly found himself caring when Harry handed him to Molly as they entered the living room once more.

"He's a very tiny baby," noted Molly. Alex wiggled to get comfortable and accepted his dummy and Babs as he felt a very gentle hand brush against his forehead. He heard voices but was rather too tired to distinguish them. He fell asleep very easily after that.

Molly Weasley looked at her now youngest grandson with a smile on her lips as she took in his appearance. She felt as if this little one was in deep need of a lot of mothering, though Ginny seemed to be doing fine with that and Harry was the perfect father for any baby. She remembered seeing him with Teddy and then with James. His firstborn had been very different in raising, according to Harry, considering this was his baby boy who he was raising 24-7 where as Teddy was his godson and his grandmother was the primary caretaker of Teddy Lupin. The now young man was very kind and so much like Remus, with a bit of mischief from both sides of his parents. James was a seemingly cocky prankster but Molly had seen the little boy who was a bit insecure considering he was the eldest Potter and it was Lily who looked like Ginny and Albus like their father. James was very much like his grandfather though and his namesake made James feel he couldn't be who he wanted. He had told her this the year before he was due to go to Hogwarts. That sweet ten year old had already grown and she knew he would make his father and father's father proud.

Albus was a curious child with Harry's stubborn streak to a tee. He was not as outgoing as his brother and preferred to plan revenge in secret. His pranks were more cunningly planned and excuted to make sure someone else had done them it seemed. He was definitely a Slytherin and Molly was glad the prejudice was gone for the most part. He was a charmer like his brother though and both boys would be swamped with girls when they were older. Albus did not look exactly like his father, but he had a lot of Ginny in him as well. Though he did have Harry's black hair and green eyes.

Lily was the sweetest one of the Potter bundle and was very fiery like her father's mother. She was very kind and, like her father, tried to bring home various animals she had found on the way home from school according to Ginny. She seemed to adore helping people and would often help Molly cook when permitted.

Now as she looked at the little boy, now the youngest Potter, she couldn't help but determine that he'd be the most unique of the lot. From what Harry had confided to her, he was eerily quiet the week after they found him, a bit setback from others his age, and quite powerful. He had caught a bout of the Dragon Flu she heard and that was known to show how powerful a child was half the time, considering their accidental magic was drawn out from the sickness. To know he had made even Teddy panick, the boy who babysat almost every Weasley at least once, was astounding to say the least.

"Christmas will be coming up soon. How about we all get together for Christmas day? The whole Hogwarts bunch shall be home won't they?" Harry suggested.

"Yes they shall. I think it is a marvelous idea!" Molly gushed happily. If it was anything she loved the most, was a full house of her family. As she looked down at the sleeping little one in her arms, she couldn't help but feel very much accomplished for having raised her own children into the people they were today. Perhaps this child would be a very good man when he grew up.

**Author's Note: If only she knew she was thinking about Harry when she said that. Hehehe. Christmas shall be the next few chapters since that's the month coming up in real life anyways and I need to write the Christmas chapter for Muddled Tears don't I? Oops... Anyways! Hope you lot liked this one. I felt the Weasleys needed to be included in this. Arthur was at work. **


	7. Making Life

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Seven "Making Life"**

**Warning: Yet another time skip. Meh, whatcha gonna do about it? It's Winter Hols for them. I'm also too lazy to add a quote in right now.**

Alex frowned lightly as he tried to work out the puzzling toy. It was annoying how this baby toy was actually harder than he thought. He chewed his dummy slowly as he tried to find the right way the shape went. Meanwhile, Teddy Lupin was grinning at the baby's frustration. The toy was actually sort of simple. The toy would form into a box with different shape, the holes changing and the blocks would match them. The child, or in this case the baby, had to fit all the blocks in the box from the right shape. Alex was doing alright until he got to the harder stages where the toy shapes were actually quite challenging. Finally Teddy intervened when Alex threw the blocks at the nearby chest next to him. He picked the baby up and bounced him up and down easily, having babysat for Harry's family loads of times.

"Shh, I'm sure you can figure it out easily," soothed Teddy with a grin as Alex sniffed, burrowing his face into Teddy's shoulder. The baby was definitely one of the most well behaved ones he had ever taken care of. He remembered how loud James was, how sneaky Albus had been, how sweet and temperamental Lily could be, and all the Weasley children were very much mischievous in some way. With Alex he had been in charge of the baby since Alex had woken up, Harry and Ginny having to go to work and Teddy on break considering James and the others were also coming home tonight. Alex had been quiet and quite frankly, adorable. He had cooed every now and then and only just now did he have a bit of a tantrum, which wasn't even much. Teddy just hoped Alex never got sick ever again. He had dealt with sick kids, but none that powerful. Ever.

Alex let Teddy take him to the kitchen where Teddy fixed him a bowl of oatmeal. After tying a bib around Alex, Teddy spooned some of the food up and raised it to Alex's mouth who took it willingly, though the toddler made a face at it. After the first few spoonfuls, Teddy handed the toddler his own spoon to use and let Alex try and feed himself the rest. Alex was now roughly 17 months in age and had advanced a lot more than expected. He was walking (though one would classify that as toddling) and could now say names with r's in them though he mostly used a w in place of the r. He was still in nappies but the whole toilet training business wouldn't really begin until he was 2 most likely.

After Alex happily said "All done", Teddy lifted him up after cleaning his mouth of any mess. Alex giggled, his now normal sort of thing, and let Teddy take him back to the living room. Setting the toddler down, Teddy sat on the sofa to watch the child once more. Alex looked at him curiously before toddling over to his stuffy who Alex had called Babs apparently and dragged the bunny to his toy chest, looking in it before taking out the toy telephone Harry had purchased just the other day and Alex had taken a liking to them. He was in the process of babbling nonsense on the phone when the floo dinged and out stepped Harry.

"Any trouble?" Harry asked as he looked at his godson with a grin. Teddy grinned back and shook his head. Harry looked over and smiled at the sweet baby boy playing, his stuffed rabbit next to him and his dummy a little ways from his spot.

"He's been quite busy entertaining himself and Babs," laughed Teddy, "so I don't think he cared for mischief. It's been a nice surprise."

"I'm about to go get Albus and James though Lily is spending the night at her friend Ashley's house. She said she'd see her brothers all winter hols." Harry chuckled. Teddy grinned, knowing Ashley was a witch as well though both girls probably didn't know that Ashley was. He had seen her, at age four, accidentally burst a glass cup in anger when Lily had been in another room and with a quick scan had discovered she was a muggleborn. Harry went over to his youngest and picked him up, ignoring Alex's indignant "Daddy" and kissing the boy on the forehead. Alex was becoming quite the adorable toddler now, though he was still drinking bottles at dinner time and at bed time and finds a lot of comfort from his dummy and Babs often. Harry had no desire to deprive the sweet little boy of such things until he was ready anyways. Ginny certainly doted on the boy and Lily was happy not to be the youngest anymore.

"Daddy down!" demanded the toddler and Harry laughed, putting Alex on the ground and watching the boy grab his stuffy and dummy before toddling over to Teddy, knowing the man would be leaving soon. Teddy picked the baby up, putting his dummy in his mouth, and smiled at the toddler as Alex put his head on the man's shoulder, clutching Babs to him. Alex was beginning to become quite attached to Teddy and the young man had no qualms with Alex clinging to him though it made leaving quite difficult. Teddy eventually managed to part ways with them, promising to be back for Christmas as he was taking Victoire out on a date tonight and needed to pick her up from the station.

"Okay Lex, what say we get you ready to go pick up your brothers," Harry said as he carried the toddler up to the nursery. Alex giggled happily and let Harry put his jumper on him, though he stubbornly demanded he try to tie his own shoe. Eventually Harry just swapped the sneakers for the velcro ones, not wanting to be late, and carried the baby to the car. He strapped the child into the car seat and got in. As he drove, he put in one of the tapes Hermione had given him last month, and dutifully listened to some muggle kids music for tots. Alex didn't seem to particularly enjoy it though he listened obediently, imitating a few noises here and there.

Harry found a parking space and pulled in, getting out and letting Alex walk in front of him, though he ended up holding the baby's hand when a crowd went by. As they went into the platform, Harry swung Alex up onto his hip and looked for his two sons. He finally spotted two black heads and grinned as they were surrounded by a massive group of redheads. Making his way over there, he could see they were mainly just the Hogwarts bunch.

"Uncle Harry!" called Dominique happily as she bounded over and was about to hug him when she took notice of the toddler on his hip. Harry chuckled and handed Alex to James who happily took him while Harry hugged Dominique and the others which took awhile. The Weasley bunch were all clamoring to ask Harry about their new baby cousin and Harry patiently told them about Alex being his son now. James ignored the talk, bouncing Alex around to his own enjoyment.

"Jay!" Alex cooed and James grinned, letting the baby call him a nickname he normally hated. The eldest peered at the happy toddler.

The baby gave him a toothy grin, showing the few more teeth he had gained since they last saw him.

"Abus!" giggled Alex though oddly enough Albus didn't say anything or even look at him in delight. James put Alex on his feet and had to ask his father where Lily and his Mum went. Unfortunately none of the family members seemed to be paying much attention to Alex who was toddling over to a familiar looking person. To his surprise, it turned out to be Draco Malfoy. He looked up with his wide green eyes at the blond man, wanting to scream, when Malfoy knelt down and Alex finally noticed he didn't exactly look like Malfoy, though he was a Malfoy for sure. For one thing he had darker blond hair.

"What are you doing over here kid?" asked the boy who looked like he was 11 maybe. Or any age really, being much taller than the shrunken 6th year. The boy made a move to pick Alex up but instantly Alex's mind went into baby mode like it normally did he started crying loudly, his fists next to his eyes in an attempt to stop as he bawled. This unfortunately attracted the attention of the boy's father who came over and stopped.

Draco could have sworn he was looking at yet another mini Potter but this one was only a baby and Potter hadn't spawned more kids, or else it would have been in the paper like always. The Daily Prophet never did tire of the Man-Who-Conquered and his personal life. Draco looked at Scorpius, his son, who looked vaguely bewildered. Being a father, he instinctively picked the baby up and bounced him lightly, trying to spot the baby's parents. It looked like a boy judging by the tuft of unruly black hair. Like Potter's hair...

"Malfoy! That's my nephew you have," George Weasley interrupted and Alex was calming down, spotting his Uncle now. Draco immediately handed the baby to George, relieved he had found a family member of the baby's.

"He was wondering around," defended Draco. George Weasley nodded after putting the dummy into the boy's mouth. He was thankful the dummy had been attached to the boy's jumper so he wouldn't lose it. Alex sucked on his dummy, quieting down fully and letting George hold him. He did look at Scorpius and Draco curiously, as if trying to compare them. Finally he reached a hand out for Draco who quirked an eyebrow but brought his own hand up to the baby's, letting the child grasp his smaller finger with his hand.

"That's his way of saying hello," George translated as Alex stopped and hid his face into George's shoulder. The man nodded and immediately left with his son who had been staring at the baby.

**Author's Note: Wonder what's up with Albus? Lol I know but I won't tell. So review and I'll work on getting the next one. School is back in session tomorrow so no idea if I'll be able to continue to update weekly, considering I have work on top of school. Meh. **


	8. A Potter Christmas

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Eight "A Potter Christmas"**

_All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream - Edgar Allen Poe_**  
**

The sound of giggling could be heard and Albus Severus Potter sighed loudly in his room, trying to block the stupid noise. Admittedly he found the newest Potter to be very cute, but he was irritated that even his own father was more concentrated on that kid than anyone else. James never stopped torturing him about being a Slytherin and he hardly ever got to see Rose. Scorpius wouldn't be welcomed here, he suspected, if his Uncle Ron appeared anywhere. If Scorpius ever, ever ended up with Rose he would never be welcomed here. Albus sighed once more and wished he could get some peace in this blasted house.

"Lex! No! That's Albus' toothbrush!" came James' loud voice and Albus' head snapped up in horror before growling in annoyance. Once again, that baby was really getting on his nerves. He fiddled with the muggle pencil in his hand and wondered what to get Rose for Christmas when he heard his door turning. Thinking it was his father, Albus turned only to see that ruddy kid enter his room with a grin on his face. The stupid brat had taken to toddling around quite everywhere, including his room. Albus could practically feel a vein pop in his forehead. Alex was really starting to get on his nerves with all the attention he was receiving from everyone, including James.

"A'bus?" Alex cooed cheerfully. He was curious as to why the middle Potter avoided him like the plague and after leaving James to clean up the mess in the bathroom he had created after his bath, he had made a dash for the other Potter brother's room. Albus, as usual, didn't greet him back and simply turned back around. Alex looked at Albus, puzzled, before toddling over to the boy. In his older mind, he was thinking that something was wrong possibly and he wanted to help this boy out if he could.

"A'bus sad?" Alex asked.

"No Albus is mad," growled Albus, startling Alex as the first year whirled around, "You're nothing but an annoying brat who can't even look after yourself without causing trouble. All you do is whine and cry! You're ruddy pain." Alex looked stunned and fell silent. Alex felt suddenly like a burden, something he had always felt at the Dursleys. With a frown, Alex turned around and left the room. Albus watched him go with a heavy heart. He thought maybe exploding at the kid would make him feel better, but seeing the baby's face afterward made everything worse in his mind. He could tell in that instant that the baby had understood him. But he was just a baby wasn't he?

Just a baby.

Albus groaned as he realized what he had just said. Alex didn't know any better on half of what he did, being only a year and a half. Why was he freaking jealous of him in the first place? He felt ten times worse for getting angry at the baby and he fell onto his bed, feeling miserable. When his mum called him down for dinner later that day, Albus saw that Alex had taken his words to heart somehow. He wasn't letting their parents or even James feed him, instead trying to do so himself and shaking his head firmly when someone tried to help him. Albus ate in silence and the room was somewhat quiet, though no longer peaceful to Albus. He watched when Alex finished, refusing to take his bottle.

"Someone is cranky," Harry said with a teasing grin to the youngest Potter and Albus realized what his dad had told him months ago. They had found the baby. Of course Harry would pay more attention to Alex right now. The baby was found in an explosion. Something had happened to him. Albus really wanted to kick himself but could only watch as his dad took Alex up to his nursery to put him to bed. When he came back moments later, he was frowning.

"What's up dear?" Ginny asked, concerned.

"He just wanted to go straight to sleep," said Harry, "didn't even want to do anything that he normally wanted to do."

"Maybe he isn't feeling well," voiced James. Harry shook his head. Lily looked at her father with a frown of her own.

"I checked him, he's fine/" Harry replied before sighing. Albus ignored them all, excusing himself to go write a letter to Scorpius. As he finished and worked on his homework, he finally realized it was midnight. With a sigh he got ready for bed and was about to head back to his room when he heard a muffled whimper. He blinked and realized it was coming from Alex's room. He cautiously entered and saw Alex lying on his side, trying to stay quiet and was keeping his head away from the baby monitor. Albus realized Alex was trying to make sure Harry and Ginny didn't hear him awake. He walked over to the crib slowly and had to unlatch the bar so he could put a hand to Alex's forehead, being too short to lean over.

"A'bus mad?" Alex whispered, his eyes wide.

"No kid. I'm not mad at you anymore," Albus reassure, feeling immensely guilty for having said all that stuff, "I didn't mean what I said Lex." Hopefully the nickname would comfort the little boy. Alex laid on his back, frowning at Albus before reaching his arms towards him. Albus relented and lifted Alex up, noticing how light the baby was. He found the dummy in the crib and placed it in Alex's mouth, giving him the stuffed rabbit Babs he carried everywhere. Alex allowed him to do so and Albus did his best to settle Alex on his hip before taking him down to the kitchen, noting that having Alex on his hip was the easiest. He made it to the kitchen and set Alex on the counter, looking unsure as to what to do next. He decided to get himself some milk and was pouring himself a glass when the light flicked on, causing him to freeze.

"I thought I heard something," James said with his trademark grin, "Why'd you steal Alex, little bro?"

"He was having a nightmare I think," Albus said reluctantly, "so I took him down here."

"Ah," James nodded, "want to feed him his bottle then?"

"His bottle?" Albus asked, blinking. James grinned and went to the counter, picking up an empty cylinder and filling it with milk. He placed it on the small charmed warmer and checked the bottle on his arm before instructing his younger brother to hold Harry in his arms, sitting down. Albus did as he was bid and James adjusted his hold until Alex was cuddled against his chest in a lying down position. Alex seemed to automatically know what was going to happen and let James take out his dummy before inserting the bottle into his mouth, handing it to Albus to hold up for him.

Albus was amazed when Alex began to suckle from the bottle, feeling like a big brother for sure. He was feeling even worse for what he had said to Alex earlier that day and hoped the baby would forgive him. Alex continued to drink from the bottle, his eyelids drooping. James poured himself a glass of milk and sat at the table. Albus noticed his older brother in his trademark muggle gray hoodie and black shorts. He was probably wearing a jersey underneath like he normally did.

"So what's up Al?" James asked. Despite all outside appearances, James was very protective of his siblings and always made sure they were alright.

"It's nothing," Albus said reluctantly, "I just had a bad day is all."

"That's not like you," James said in surprise, "did it have anything to do with Alex going into your room today?"

"How did you know?" Albus asked in surprise at how his brother had known Alex went into his room.

"I saw him and was about to get him when he came right back out, only he didn't want to play hide and go seek like we were originally doing." James said, frowning at his brother, "What happened?"

"I..." Albus began, looking at the baby who was still drinking, "I was jealous of all the attention he was getting and I kind of called him a brat and a pain." James looked at Albus, shocked at his words. Albus bit his lip, unable to look at James. The two brothers were quiet for a moment before James stood up.

"Dad told me he thinks Alex went through a lot of trauma before we found him," James said, "just as long as you let him know you didn't mean it, I think he'll be alright. Mind if I put him in his crib? He's asleep by now." Albus looked down and nodded, handing the snoozing toddler to James who sat him on his hip and, with one last look at Albus, left the room. Albus wondered how he'd make it up to the baby...

Christmas morning found an excited Albus, James, and Lily bouncing on their mother and father's bed.

"Mum! Dad! Presents!" Albus said happily.

"Alright already," yawned Harry, looking at them with a sleepy grin, "go get Alex ready for the day and we'll be down there soon." He chuckled as both boys raced out towards the nursery, Lily not far behind them. They heard giggling and a crash before James' loud laugh echoed through the halls. The parents looked at each other before getting dressed for the morning and walking down to the living room where Albus and Lily were now spotted, sorting the gifts. At Harry's questioning look they stated that James had shooed them out. Finally James entered the room with a giggling Alex Potter who was dressed warmly in a pair of denim jeans and a muggle Elmo shirt, socks on his feet and his hair touselled in every direction.

After getting all four kids settled and their presents sorted, they did their usual tradition of the parents opening first, exchanging pleasantries, and then came James. The boy had been given a few books on Quidditch, a football, a quaffle, and a new broom kit. Albus had received books on first aid, a basketball, a snitch, and a new broom kit as well. Lily had gotten a handful of girly toys, mostly muggle and magical mixed together to her delight. Finally came Alex who looked puzzled before Lily helped him unwrap his. James had gotten him a kiddy snitch which was very much larger and slower than a normal one. Harry had purchased a toy broom for him and Ginny had bought him a pair of quidditch robes his size. Albus had bought him a stuffed owl and Lily had gotten him muggle car toys. The toddler squealed happily and looked at his father in hopes of riding the toy broom. His father laughed and lifted him up, waiting for Ginny to adjust the broom before he set Alex on the broom and watched the toddler fly around happily, looking very much like a natural on it. Luckily they had charmed the stairs to prevent him from climbing them with it and the doors were locked.

"Thanks mum and dad!" James, Albus, and Lily chorused, grinning at their load this year. Being a sort of quidditch fanatic family had its perks really. James saw Alex zooming towards the kitchen and he made a dash for the toddler, reentering the room after a few minutes of chasing. The baby was protesting at being carried, wanting to go back on the broom.

"Jay! Down! `lex down!" Alex whined. James plopped him down in his mother's lap and Alex went quiet after a second, cuddling against his mother happily. It seemed she had that calming effect on him just as much as Harry did. The baby was given his dummy and he sucked on it happily as the other three Potter children began to chatter about their gifts. 16 year old Harry Potter could never remember having this much time, especially on Christmas. That decision to act as much as a baby as he could was one of the best things he had ever decided. Though the downsides were nappies and being unable to be understood, but he liked the constantly comfort and he had a family here. Playing dumb was also easy enough in the body of a 1 year old baby. He mentally grinned.

This was, technically speaking, his first Potter Christmas. He loved it.

**Author's Note: It was the best I could do. Just got home from work and wrote this up. I didn't know how else to write this chapter anyways. Ignore errors and as usual, don't like? Don't read. Though if you did or want to add in ideas or questions, review!**


	9. A Weasley Christmas

**Here After **

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Nine "A Weasley Christmas"**

_Courage may be taught as a child is taught to speak - Euripides_

The Potter family found themselves at the Burrow later that day, finding the entire Weasley clan there. Harry chuckled as Molly came to greet him and he set Alex on the floor. The toddler didn't exactly feel like getting squashed by the many people in the room and promptly grabbed Albus' hand to hide from them. Albus looked surprised before allowing Alex to do so, going back to what he was saying to James. Lily giggled and skipped off to go find Hugo. Arthur Weasley came over to greet his daughter and son-in-law happy. While the adults were talking, Alex tugged on Albus' hand to get his brother to look at him.

"A`bus p`ay Kiddit?" Alex asked, cocking his head to the side and pointing out the window at the kids flying outside. Albus and James shared a grin before James picked up Alex and they raced outside to join their cousins.

"Hey James! Albus! Glad of you to join us. You know the drill. Al and Lily on Roxanne's team and James on my team," called Fred. Both boys grabbed a broom from their very impressively updated broom shed courtesy of Ginny's former playing for a professional Quidditch team. James had thankfully put Alex on the ground and Rose, who wasn't much for flying, sat down with Alex as they played. The two teams split up, getting on their brooms and Alex looked up at the sky, interested to see how his future kids were at playing. Albus was in the seekers spot and James had taken up a chaser spot. Teddy was the other seeker interesting enough.

On Teddy's team was Victoire as keeper, Lily and James as chasers, and Molly and Fred as beaters. On Roxanne's team was Albus as seeker, Roxanne as keeper, Louis and Dominique as chasers, and Lucy and Hugo as beaters. It seemed the chasers had their siblings to work with each other. Alex peered at the group in interest, making a note of who was where before he settled against Rose to watch the game. It started out simple enough with James in the lead, his sister easily keeping up with him. James was about to aim for Victoire when a cunning move by Louis now had the ball heading for Roxanne who looked at Louis in determination. The boy smirked and turned so he looked as if he was aiming at the far right. As soon as Roxanne turned to block there, he threw it to the left, getting a goal in. He cheered loudly and Roxanne glared at her cousin.

"Potter has the ball! Oh he passed it to Potter. Splendid move!" was Rose's voice, doing a silly imitation of an announcer, "Now Weasley takes the ball! Oh! Weasley gets past Potter and Weasley fails to block it. Lupin's ream gets a point! So far 1-1."

"Oi! Stop with the Weasley and Potter thing! It's too confusing!" Albus yelled, though he was grinning. Rose pouted and cuddled Alex a little on her lap before resuming commentary. Eventually Alex spotted the snitch and he wondered if Teddy or Albus had spotted it yet. By the looks of it, they hadn't. He began to squirm in Rose's lap, unable to contain himself. Having not played Quidditch in a very long time due to Umbridge last year and the Triwizard Tournament the year before, he missed the feel of catching the snitch and he bounced in her arms until Teddy had spotted the snitch finally. Rose was commenting on how Alex seemed to have spotted it long before Teddy did, causing the cousins to grin and Teddy to scowl as he continued heading for the snitch with Albus hot on his trails. The two were neck to neck when the snitch flew straight downwards, heading for the ground at a 90 degree angle. Alex watched, amazed, as neither boy hesitated and dove for it. Teddy pulled up at the last second, Alex a split second before him, with Teddy catching the snitch. His team cheered as everyone flew down. Rose stood up, picking Alex up as well, and walked over to them.

"I really hope you don't make the team Al. You'll be one force to be reckoned with, with you in Slytherin," James was joking. Albus poked his tongue out at his brother and looked at Rose in confusion as she smirked.

"As agreed, the winners get to play with Alex for the day," Rose said, handing Alex to Teddy who smirked at James, Albus, and Lily's faces. They had missed the bet of course, which amused him to no end. Alex wiggled in Teddy's arms, confused until he had heard what she said. He wondered why they would make such a ridiculous bet until he decided he didn't care. He let Victoire and Molly coo over him as the losing team grumbled. He giggled when Victoire accidentally poked his side and, upon finding the boy ticklish, began to mercilessly tickle the baby. Alex squealed in laughter, squirming in Teddy's arms. The cousins watched in amusement, seeing the scene of Teddy holding Alex while Victoire tickled him to be adorable.

"That's a future couple right there. Married that is," teased Fred loudly.

"I certainly would hope Bill doesn't hear that," came a familiar voice and they all turned to see Charlie Weasley walking over to them with an amused grin.

"Uncle Charlie!" chorused the group as Victoire finally stopped tickling the toddler. Alex wiggled until Teddy put him down, letting the child toddle over to Charlie who picked him up with a chuckle. He announced that he had come outside to get them all since Molly had dinner ready. They were going to eat and then open presents. The group headed to the other side of the outside and Charlie set Alex in the high chair, buckling him in a little rougher than others considering he didn't have children. Alex giggled and kicked his legs around as he watched all of his family gather round at the enlarged table outside. Inwardly, he was amazed that he was included into this large and happy family, even more so that this would be his family in the future. Or if he ever went back really. As Molly tied a bib around his neck, he grew quiet. Did he even want to go back? What about Hermione and Ron? Was he giving up on his friends just because he was happy here? Maybe he could... spend a few years here before trying to go back. He blinked suddenly as a spoon was in front of his face and he realized James, grinning, had decided to hand feed him again. He cocked his head to the side before opening his mouth, accepting the food from his adopted brother. As he munched on the mashed potatoes, he looked again at Harry, seeing him laugh at something Roxanne was telling him.

Harry looked over as he felt that he was being watched. He saw his youngest looking at him curiously as James fed him his dinner.

"I have a feeling you're going to continue to baby him for the longest time," Charlie chuckled.

"You bet," Ginny said with a smile on her face, knowing that he was talking about her now adopted son. The adults, who were at the end of the table, noticed James feeding the baby and shared grins. Harry was happy that his son no longer cared if his family watched him take care of Alex. It was showing that James wasn't just a rambunctious teenager and he was glad for it. James cleaned up the baby with a laugh and ignored his cousin's cooing at Alex and him, lifting Alex up and placing him in his lap after he saw Molly coming over with a sippy cup of juice. Alex took it into his own hands and drank from it as James went to discuss a prank with Lucy while the others were distracted.

Dinner was soon finished and the Weasleys gathered around in the enlarged living room. Alex noticed there were slight things added to the room since the past, like the fact that the walls were expanded to make room for the large family. The adults all sat on the many couches while the children gathered on the floor. Alex was seated on Ginny's lap, which he had no qualms with anymore. He was quite happy to sit there and as she gave him his dummy, he held Babs in contentment, watching his cousins pass out presents while he was cuddled to Ginny's chest. He noticed he had a pile of his own stacked neatly with childish prints and he let a small shy smile appear as Ginny bounced him on her lap, pointing out in a soft whisper that he had a lot more presents than she did.

"`Lex pwesents?" Alex asked childishly.

"Those are your presents sweetie. Which one do you want to open?" Ginny encouraged after all the gifts had been passed out and it was the grandchildrens' turn to open their gifts while the adults watched. Alex looked at his presents and he reached out, grabbing - and failing - to grab the Quidditch designed one. Ginny took it for him and set it in front of him on her lap, holding his hands in hers as she worked on unwrapping it, letting Alex feel like he was doing it himself. Alex secretly told himself to work on his motor skills when he could. He let a large smile appear on his face as he saw a customary Weasley sweater in his size, the color being teal with a black A on it. Though to his curiosity there was more fabric and after letting Ginny pick it up, discovered he now had a pair of mittens, booties (as they were called apparently), and a hat with a top ball and little flaps on it. Lily whined that she wanted to see Alex in it and Alex wiggled in protest as Ginny undressed him in front of everyone until he was only in his diaper. He blushed a little as she pulled the sweater on him followed by the other items. The girls in the room all "awed" at the very adorable toddler. Alex didn't like being stared at and the outfit was cute and warm, but he didn't want to wear it in the warm house right now so he kicked his legs until Ginny changed him back into his original dungarees with the blue tee.

After that he mainly got children fantasy books, a lot of new toys and clothes, as well as little items here and there. They all spent their time chattering and thanking each other while Alex slid off Ginny's lap and toddled over to Fred and James. Fred looked at the baby in surprise while James simply held out his arms and let Alex come to him. Alex happily wrapped his arms around James' neck as the two boys talked about a prank they had pulled on a Slytherin fifth year and managed to get away with it. As they talked about Headmistress McGonagal, it hit Alex like a ton of bricks and his mouth fell open a little as he finally remembered why he had been fighting Severus Snape in the first place before being sent to the future.

Dumbledore had died. Snape had killed him.

And with that remembrance Alex began to cry to James and Fred's bewilderment.

**Author's Note: Here are the positions and who it was played by for future reference.**

Team One

**Teddy - seeker**

**Victoire - keeper**

**James - chaser**

**Lily - chaser**

**Molly - beater**

**Fred - beater**

Team two**  
**

**Albus - seeker**

**Roxanne - keeper**

**Louis - chaser**

**Dominique - chaser**

**Lucy - beater**

**Hugo - beater**

**Sorry it took so long. School got caught up with me and my dad is also back in the hospital so I haven't had a lot of time to myself lately. Also Harry just came from the exact moment when Snape reveals he is the half-blood prince by the way. So he hadn't even come to terms that Dumbledore died until now and his baby body's first instinct is to cry. You'll see more of the 16-year-old Harry now, thinking while he tries to control his infantile actions. I figured this second part was as good as I could get it right now due to my circumstances, so sorry if it so short.**


	10. Spell Bound

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Ten "Spell Bound"**

The Department of Mysteries was heavily known for harboring many secrets of magic, engaging in unknown battles, and figuring out the puzzling challenges given to them. Therefore, when the famous Auror Captain Harry Potter requested their service, they were immediate in responding. Harry was in his kitchen with Alex, the two eating breakfast, when an owl came through the window and dropped a letter next to the man. The former Boy-Who-Lived looked a bit surprised and after recognizing the crest from an Unspeakable he knew, he glanced at Alex who was eating the small cheerios with his hand, his legs slightly kicking happily.

_Dear Mr. Potter,_

_After hearing of your request, we would be delighted to partake in the mystery that is now your adopted son, Alex Potter. If you would like, you can bring him down for testing and we can try to discover what spell was placed on the boy. Even though it has been a few months, there should be remains of it on his person._

_From,_

_Terry Boot_

_Unspeakable_

So Terry was still in that career? Good to know. Harry scourgified his son of any mess and lifted him up from his highchair, sitting him on his hip. After checking to make sure the one-year-old didn't need a change (thankfully the baby was dry), he accioed the baby bag and quickly told Ginny upstairs that he had to take Alex somewhere. He stepped in the floo and called out the words to the department that had been given to only him for specific things. He landed as gracefully as he could with a baby bag and a baby in his hands before finding himself in front of Terry. The man smiled knowingly at him and gestured for him to follow. Beside him was Christopher Losk, the father of one of James's friends.

"So the baby was found in an explosion in the muggle world?" Losk asked as Harry placed Alex down on the examination table while Terry got out a package of specifically crafted toys that were created to test the magical and intellectual ability of the baby. He undid the packaging and set the toys down beside the baby before, after asking Harry, began to undress the child of his clothes, leaving his nappy on at the very least. Alex whined at the process and blinked as he was dressed in small black robes that was tied with a ribbon around his waist. Looking at his father in confusion, he didn't notice that Terry was waving his wand around the lad.

_**Spells recorded. **_

_**Homigro.**_

_**Recuriuventa.**_

The two Unspeakables blinked in surprise while Harry simply looked confused. The men decided to test the theory and Terry set the crystal looking ball in front of Alex who looked at the clear object, baffled as to what he was supposed to do with it. All of his toys at home had some sort of purpose in how you played with them. This. It was just a ball. Alex picked it up and almost dropped it when it turned a yellow sort of color. Meanwhile Harry had recognized the ball and he allowed a small smile when the ball turned yellow. Red usually meant near squib, orange being average, and yellow being above average. Just like Harry when he had touched that ball back when he was 20.

"Your son will be a strong little guy," Terry commented, "though there is another case. First off, there were two spells place on him and both are impossible to tell when they will be able to be removed. The first spell, Homigro, is derived from the two Latin words Migro and Homo. In their respective order, they mean to depart and the world. The spell is a way of sending another to what is supposed to be their future, but could change if they know things they shouldn't. The second spell is recuriuventa which basically means to revert back to youth. Alex isn't really a baby in actual sense. I have no idea if he has his mind yet or not, but he will gain it once more as time goes on. The combination of the spells have made it to where he was sent to basically have a childhood. I'm guessing from the fact he's a younger you according to Ron's report, that because of the wars going on in the past, the spell sent him to the future. This spell can be dangerous. The spell was intended to cause pain to him by shrinking him out of existence apparently, but it shows that the spells were cast in sync, meaning two people had cast one spell each. The first spell was intended to send him away to safety I'm guessing, but the second spell was designed to kill him. Combining the two made him a baby. He'll probably grow up normally though, with a super intellectual mind. Think of Hermione if you want."

Harry's eyes widened as he listened to him explaining the finer details of the spells. So Alex wasn't the 1-year-old from his past, meaning he could have come from any point in time. He looked at the baby who was refusing to look at anyone and he wondered how old the boy was before this had happened. Nothing gave away that he wasn't a baby. Maybe he didn't have his mind yet? Harry decided to wait and see. He thanked the two unspeakables who were arguing over something about dimensions and grabbed his son, carrying him back to the fireplace. He flooed back to the house in time to see Ginny scolding James and Albus for a prank they had apparently played on someone.

"When your father gets home don't think I won't tell him," chastised Ginny.

"Tell me what?" Harry asked, amused, as he set Alex down on the floor and let the quiet baby toddle into the living room, probably to play with his toys. The fact that the spell had been designed to kill him and another was designed to keep him safe made Harry suspect Alex was between 11 to 17 when it happened. Or even in his twenties. He sighed and kissed his wife on the lips after listening to her explain how they had dumped paint on Lily in her sleep. He gave the usual "stern" talking to for her sake, but winked behind her back. After sending the two off to do what they wished, he swept his wife over to him and landed his lips on her own once more.

Ginny was taken by surprise by the very passionate kiss but responded to it in full before breaking apart. That was when Harry explained where he had been. He neglected the spells and the reasoning, but he told her he'd give her the full explanation in time. His wife accepted this warily before scuttling off to help Lily get rid of the paint. James and Albus were in the living room with Alex playing with his blocks. They were talking and Harry could just barely make out the words being said.

"Think dad ever wonders what happened to Alex before he found him?" James asked as he rolled a ball to Albus who passed it back. The two boys were laying on the stomachs in front of Alex, fiddling with one of Alex's rubber ball toys. Harry kept hidden slightly from view, listening.

"I think Alex was hurt really badly before then," Albus responded, looking at the baby who looked up at them at his words. The baby stared into the green eyes of his middle brother for the longest time before coming to his senses and crawling to the boy, tugging on his hair. Albus pulled away but the toddler stubbornly tried to grab another fistful of hair.

"Squirt just wanted to pull my hair," Albus grumbled though he allowed a grin to form on his face. The boys both loved giving Alex attention now that Albus discovered Alex had constantly pestered him before only to play with Albus. James was just glad Albus was getting over that ugly bitterness he had towards the baby. He sat up and looked at the two before shaking his head in amusement as Albus ended up tickling the baby. Alex lay on his back, giggling and trying to escape. Harry watched the scene with a smile before making his presence known.

"Having fun boys?" he asked as he entered and sat down between the two. His two eldest looked at him in surprise, knowing he hardly ever joined them in their silly games anymore since they had gotten older. Alex's eyes lit up and he crawled over to Harry who held out his hands, letting Alex hold onto them happily. James studied his father's solemn face and wondered where he had gone this morning, but he decided not to push it. Albus on the other hand, was a bit of lacking tact today it seemed.

"Why the long face dad?" Albus asked, ignoring James' pointed look to keep quiet. Harry sighed and picked Alex up, holding him on his lap. As he did so he grabbed the dummy on the end table nearby (they had a lot of these around the house for the baby) and placed it in the toddler's mouth. He couldn't find Babs anywhere surprisingly but he left it at that. He told the boys that it was only bad news he heard and he would tell them in due time. Both boys hesitated before accepting the answer. It had taken their father a long time before telling them about why their birthdays had been on the front page of the Daily Prophet, or when they went out in public they were swarmed by the news reporters all eager to get a statement from them. It hadn't prepared them much for Hogwarts, but they had been able to adapt to it all thankfully. Lily had yet to experience it, still attending her muggle school who had no idea that her father was more famous than being in her bedtime story books.

"Alex isn't going to leave us is he?" asked James hesitantly. Harry shook his head immediately, a small smile on his face as he handed the toddler one of his favorite interactive muggle toys. The baby sucked on his dummy, calm, and began to play with the toy as they talked. To all of the world, it looked like a normal baby happy in his daddy's lap, enjoying a toy. But now that Harry suspected he had his mind, he saw the baby slightly perking his head when they talked, as if listening. He couldn't be entirely sure if they baby had his older self's mind. And if he did? He decided he rather didn't care. Growing up he never had anyone to love him until he married Ginny where she loved him unconditionally and then came his children. Even if this child had the mind of a teenager or adult even, he'd be given a childhood if Harry had anything to say about it.

**Author's Note: Wrote this one up right when I woke up this morning. I have like 30 minutes until work now so I won't be able to write anymore for a bit. I'll mainly be posting on weekends from now on thought from time to time I might be able to post in the middle of the week. This isn't a novel length story like Ring Child and Muddled Tears. I don't know how long this one will be though. Hope you like it and all. I felt it was time to explain the spell a little more and how it connects with the story. Bellatrix cast Recuriuventa while Snape had cast Homigro. **

**Also thanks to all my reviewers. It's encouraging me to write when I get them!**

**Kia.**


	11. Notice

Author's Note:

I know I know I shouldn't be doing this but I just wanted to let you guys know I'm still here and still writing. Last month my father passed away and I've been at a bit of a turning point in my life where I'm struggling to maintain everything. So I've been mega busy and stories were on halt until then. Nothing is going to be hiatus forever. I might take a year or I might take a few days but the stories WILL get done. I pray that you guys stay patient with me.

So to cheer you up I'll tell you one thing about the next chapter to each story!

Emerald Istar: The battle once more takes place with a big twist everywhere!  
Muddled Tears: New Years Eve! Something major happens to shift Alex's life once more.

Here After: Birthday Surprise for Alex.

Staying Golden: Ponyboy consciously shows he's still there.

Little Wizard: Harry turns 11 and goes to school. Is it Hogwarts or not?

Undeniable Unbelievable: A Murder Case takes place! Ran might make an appearance in this chapter.

Also, if you have any ideas you would like to see in any of the stories, review here and I'll consider using it.


	12. Another Day Older

**Here After**

**by Kiamii**

**Chapter Eleven "Another day older"**

**Warning: Time Skip. Fluff. But this story is allll about fluffiness so no whining about it.**

**Note: In dedication to my father who passed away in January.**

Alex Potter was having fun. He was turning 2 years old today and his family had been encouraging him to be as excited as them. Alex woke up and stood up in his crib to await his mother to come and get him, or Harry (known as his father now). He took the moment of wait to look around, seeing the small changes made here and there to the nursery he had been living in for quite a long time now. The walls were very much the same as always and the ceiling was still charmed to show the sun when he woke up (the moon when he was going to sleep). The quidditch mobile was still suspended above him and a new addition was the small snitch floating lazily around his room, only staying in the nursery. He had a shelf full of new toys he had acquired from Christmas and parties. As Alex grabbed Babs, he smiled to himself. Though he missed Hermione and Ron as much as anything, he couldn't help but feel the sense of belonging he had here. The baby side of him was overcoming him often nowadays and Harry couldn't help but feel it was for the best. His life had been filled with nothing but remorse and hate before this so being coddled with constant love and affection did wonders for his esteem.

It wasn't long until Ginny made her appearance and she smiled warmly at her youngest son, cooing a happy birthday to him as she picked him up. Alex gave her a sloppy grin as he was carried to the changing table. She easily changed him (he was pleased to note he didn't feel as embarrassed as he used to at this) and got him dressed in a pair of short overalls with a red tee underneath. She set him down after putting Velcro shoes on his feet and watched the toddler run out of his room to head for the kitchen. It took Alex a few minutes to get down the stairs by himself but when he managed (with Ginny watching behind) he gave a childish yell of glee. Inwardly, the adult side of him knew he was being silly, but he was glad to finally be able to accomplish this task after nearly 8 months of having to be carried and babied.

"Daddy," Alex yelled happily as he came racing into the room. Harry laughed and swung Alex up into his arms as Ginny entered the room. He gave a small kiss to his youngest son's forehead before setting Alex in his high chair. Alex giggled as James and Albus came trudging downstairs with Lily following just as slowly. James yawned and grinned at Alex, ruffling the toddler's hair with a "Happy Birthday" coming from him, following by Albus and Lily chorusing the sentiment. Alex wiggled around until Harry set a sippy cup down in front of him. Alex only ever drank a bottle when he was distressed at night now, instead of everyday.

The family began their breakfast and it was only a moments silence before the floo dinged and Teddy Lupin stepped out, clad in his customary black robes with the Lupin, Tonks and Black crest upon it. James and Albus were quick to greet their surrogate brother as Lily hugged Teddy around the waist.

"Teddy!" Alex giggled. Teddy grinned at _his_ godson and scooped Alex up into his arms, swinging him around carelessly before dropping Alex on his hip. The toddler giggled happily and kicked his legs before Teddy took a seat, bouncing Alex on his lap.

"So what's on the agenda for Lex's birthday?" Teddy asked.

"Breakfast right now, then we'll go to my mum's for his birthday party. He'll have his nap after lunch and he gets his presents when he wakes up." Ginny answered as she served pancakes to Teddy who thanked her and began to take small bites, feeding Alex some every now and then who happily ate the pieces of pancake. After Teddy finished, he offered to watch Alex while everyone got ready and he wound up in the living room as everyone dressed in their respective rooms. He laid on his stomach as Alex giggled and jumped up and down on a mat that made sounds when stepped on and the tone changed depending on how low Alex was. Teddy was always enthralled by Alex, seeing as the little boy was very different from other children he watched. The baby was always smiling now and very well behaved with the exception of a few incidents here and there. It was only months ago the baby didn't even seem to know how to giggle.

"Ready?" came Harry's voice as the others all assembled where Teddy had been watching the baby play. Alex looked at his father brightly and raised his arms, wanting to be picked up. Harry smiled and picked the toddler up, sitting him on his hip and putting the dummy into Alex's mouth so that he didn't breathe in any soot. They took turns using the floo and it was easy from there, reaching the Burrow with in a matter of minutes. Soon it was Harry's turn and he made sure Alex was facing his shoulder and had his dummy in before he threw the powder down, stepped in, and loudly called his destination very clearly.

He landed as best as he normally did and he set Alex down on the floor as Molly came to greet them. Of course Alex toddled over to his many cousins before his grandmother could swoon over him. He didn't make it that far before Arthur Weasley picked him up as he toddled. Alex looked annoyed and he whined around his dummy.

"Gandpa! Down!" Alex demanded. Arthur laughed and bounced him a little as he instead carried him to the living room couch where Alex's aunts and uncles were, to the toddler's dismay as he was then passed around them all and either hugged or kissed on the cheek and occasionally his forehead. He reluctantly allowed it, sucking on his dummy as they cooed over him getting so big and strong. The occasional "Just like his father" had Alex nearly laughing aloud but he refrained thankfully. It was very much difficult to keep control over his toddler side and Alex found himself exhausted by the end of the day trying to keep it controlled, so by the fifth month living here he had finally given up and just let his toddler side take over.

Alex kicked his legs in protest as he was sat on someone's lap, wanting to go see his cousins. George laughed and set him down, watching his nephew toddle over to the various Weasleys who cooed over him and wished him happy birthday. The girls of course picked him up often and kissed his chubby baby cheeks. After the initial greetings he happily played tag with some of the cousins who purposely slowed for him to catch them though occasionally they actually had to run seeing as Alex was pretty fast. The game ended up outside for awhile and ended when Alex was swooped up by Teddy and tickled, causing Alex to squeal in laughter, trying to get his godfather to stop.

"Lunch time you guys," called Harry who chuckled as he caught sight of his youngest squirming in his godson's arms. They settled down to eat with James helpfully helping Alex munch on his cut up sandwich. The family all finished around the same time as Alex guzzled on his juice, waiting impatiently for them to all finish. When they had they gathered around the now two year old and began to pass presents to him. The toddler giggled happily as he was given presents each containing a new toy, clothes, or candy. Alex particularly liked the stuffed stag Harry had gotten him which was charmed to move around and nuzzle him.

"So how's Lex been?" Ron asked as he watched the child.

"A lot better than the beginning," Harry said with a smile on his face, "He's happy and acting more like a kid his age, though he still shows that intelligence level quite often." The two best friends grinned at each other, remembering quite clearly some of the more problematic issues with the boy when they discovered just how clever he was. Alex was shy and brilliant, a protegee in their opinion. Harry was strongly suspecting his youngest son to be older than his physical appearance by the day, but he couldn't place which age and he had no desire to disrupt the child's happiness by letting him know he knew the truth.

The party continued for awhile until Lex's yawn was spotted. Harry laughed and told everyone he was taking Lex home as he had already missed his nap for the party. Alex allowed the many hugs and kisses to his person before waving bye bye to his family, curling up against Harry as his dummy was put in his mouth and he was flooed back to his home. He yawned again and buried his face against Harry sleepily.

"Daddy," babbled the toddler through the dummy.

"Yeah kiddo?"

"Wub you?" the toddler asked, his small hand clutching Harry's shirt.

"Love you too baby boy," Harry laughed.

He changed Alex before putting him down in the crib, leaning against the railing slightly as he gently moved strands of hair from the baby's face, watching the boy sleep, his dummy bobbing up and down slowly as it matched the pace of his tummy. The Man-Who-Conquered -as was his current title these days by the press- pressed a kiss to the boy's cheek before he left the room to work on a few reports for his job. He made a pact that he would make sure the little boy who was once him had a childhood here. That was a promise.

**Author's Note: Can Harry keep that promise? Time skip next chapter, dunno how old Alex will be. Any suggestions? Sorry this was short but like I've said in other stories, I'm restarting a little so I need to get my balance back. Bare with me please. I hope you liked this chapter. Part of it was already written before my dad passed away, so it was a little bit confusing to continue on at first.**


	13. A few years later

A few years later…

"Mum! Lex took my school book!"

"Did not!"

"Lex, give Lily back her book."

Alex Potter pouted at his mother and withdrew the Charms book from underneath his bed, holding it up to Lily who took it back and bounded back to her bedroom to finish up her homework. Ginny sighed and looked at her youngest son who refused to look back at her.

"Baby, why did you take Lily's school book?" Ginny asked gently as she sat down on the four year old's bed.

"I wanna go to Hogwarts too," Alex finally said miserably.

"Oh baby boy, you'll go to Hogwarts soon enough. Don't be so eager to grow up," Ginny soothed, picking up the preschooler and settling him on her lap.

"I know," Alex relented. "I just don't wanna be left out."

Ginny kissed her baby boy on the forehead and tried her best to reassure him that he would join his siblings soon enough.

"No I won't!" Alex shouted finally. "They'll be gone when I get there!" The four year old slid off his mother's lap and ran out of the room, sniffling heard clearly. Ginny sighed and was about to go after him when James appeared in the doorway, dark blue hoodie hanging off his body as he crossed his arms.

"Is he really that upset that Lily is now at Hogwarts too?" James asked, frowning. Ginny nodded silently, causing James to frown further.

"He'll come around," James said confidently before leaving.

Alex wiped at his eyes with the palm of his hands childishly before sitting on the grass under the large tree in their backyard. He missed Hermione. His Hermione. His Ron. _His _Hogwarts. The feeling of longing was overwhelming to him lately and Alex knew it was because he'd had too much time to think as of late, his siblings at school again and only home for the holidays this week.

Tired of feeling self-pity, Alex stood up and turned around, looking up at the tree trunk before him. He could still do magic, couldn't he? Alex realized he'd never actually tried much in the past few years now. Maybe if he just…

"Alex!"

James heard Albus' shout of horror and he raced down the stairs and out the backdoor in time to see his two youngest siblings. Alex was up in the tree with his small feet dangling, sitting on a branch. His eyes widened, seeing Albus trying to reach the younger boy.

"Alex! Get down from there!" James yelled, his mother joining them alongside Lily who had heard the commotion. The little boy looked slightly startled at his family, having been arguing with Albus that he liked being up there.

The kid was going to give James a bleeding heart attack if he fell, James muttered darkly to himself. The little boy had never climbed any higher than a couch before so this terrified the teenager that his baby brother would plummet to his death. A quick glance at his mother confirmed she did have her wand, so at the very least he would be safe, right?

"Accio Alex Potter!" Ginny commanded and James watched the stubborn child fly out of the tree and straight at Ginny who caught her.

"What were you thinking Alexander Potter!?" Ginny scolded as she turned Alex around in her arms to face him as she sank to her knees, looking at the disheveled preschooler. "You are four years old! You know better than to climb that tree!"

James nodded in agreement at his mother's words, remembering his mother forbidding Alex long before this time, having seen Albus fall out of the tree when he was eight and break an arm.

Alex didn't say anything, his face looking down at the ground as their mother lectured him soundly.

"I'll take him mum," James offered when Ginny finally wound down and told Alex he'd be getting a time out and early bed time. Ginny studied James before nodding and James scooped up the quiet boy, carting him off to his own room where he sat Alex down in a corner not stacked with random trinkets and told him to stay there as James perused his shelves, looking for that potions book of his that he'd put up earlier.

About ten minutes passed, James was in the midst of studying the calming potion when he heard Alex's quiet sniffling. He closed the book and made his way over to the kid, kneeling down.

"Want to talk about it?" James asked while maneuvering to sit crisscrossed in front of the boy. Alex looked quietly at his older brother.

"I wanna grow up," Alex said. He couldn't say he missed being older, missed being with his friends who didn't treat him like a baby, missed his old life no matter how dark and daunting it seemed. Sometimes he just felt like this life was too carefree for him; he did not deserve it. He had been put through hell and back before this, so why was everything so innocent and calm? No war, no worries. It was starting to unnerve the former Harry Potter, having finally realized after four years now that there was no danger.

"You don't really kiddo, you just want to come with us," James answered, smiling slightly as Alex glared at him. James didn't know how he was feeling, he only saw the preschooler that had been adopted by his father.

"When is daddy coming home?" Alex stubbornly said instead, changing the subject. James shrugged and gave up on his brother, ushering the little boy back to his room for the inevitable naptime that was enforced for him. Alex frowned and debated on putting up a fight before giving in, crawling under the covers and letting James cover him up.

He lay there for what felt like ages before anger at his situation welled up and Alex slid out of bed and padded over to his closet. He hastily changed into one of his play robes, the ones with a phoenix on the back and the black hood, before he peaked out of his room. Not seeing his brothers and sister or his mother, he tiptoed down the hallway and into one of the rooms unused by any of the Potters. He stood on his toes and reached for the handle, clumsily falling into the room after the success. Breathing a relieved sigh, he hurried inside and quietly shut the door before padding over to the closet in there. The closet was easy to slip inside and he ignored the dark, crawling through the boxes until he was behind them. Only then did he allow himself to silently let tears fall.

It hadn't been easy, being a Potter here. He'd slipped up quite a lot over the years, when he'd seen something so alike to his old life he would react. Seeing Hagrid on a visit to the Headmistress's office when James set off a dungbomb under Albus' seat in the Great Hall? He'd cried in delight that was thankfully mistaken for baby happiness at random. When Ron talked of the Wheezes store, he'd almost wanted to comment about what the new phrase could be, but had thankfully been occupied by Albus shaking a toy in his face.

Giving a heave of annoyance, Alex realized he was sucking his thumb and quickly yanked it out. He had to stop being a child! Sure he'd enjoyed these past few years, but really with no one around when his siblings were at Hogwarts and his mother busy, he had been thinking of all the people he could be saving or helping out there who would need him, even though there was already a Harry Potter here.

Maybe that's why he was so angry? He would forever be Alex Potter here now. This Harry got to grow up and be a father, got to get married and have the career he'd been vying for. Got to be taken seriously by those around him. While little Alex Potter was cooed at and babytalked to, ignored during social gatherings except to play with him.

"Lexi?" came a voice, perhaps from the hallway. Alex stubbornly ignored them and scooted closer to the boxes, trying not to sneeze. "Alex?" It was his adopted father, of course.

Shaking his head, Alex felt his eyes watering in warning of the oncoming sneeze and he stuffed his sleeve to his nose to muffle it, sniffling in reaction. It seemed to have been the noise his father had been looking for because the spare room door opened and Harry was approaching the closet. Darnit, he'd forgotten to close the closet!

"Lexi, kiddo, please come out?" Harry asked quietly. Alex shook his head despite the fact Harry couldn't see him.

"Alright then kiddo," he said after a few minutes, "I understand you're angry. You're not getting to go off to Hogwarts with your brothers and sister… and you don't get to learn magic with them." Alex frowned, wondering where this was going. "What about if we started teaching you now?" Teaching him what?

"Learning to read and everything. A tutor."

Oh crap, he'd said it aloud. Harry was approaching his box as he talked and pulled it back to reveal his wayward son. He didn't make a move to pull Alex over to him, however.

"Don't want to learn by myself," Alex said instead of agreeing.

"We can invite other children too," Harry offered. Alex shook his head and crawled out of his spot finally.

"Can I go to school daddy?" Alex finally said, mind made up after the long musing in the closet about his current life.

"A muggle school?" Harry asked, somewhat surprised. Alex nodded. "You're too young to go just yet."

"After my birthday?" Alex compromised.

"We'll see," Harry bargained, reaching forward to scoop Alex up. The little boy nodded in agreement before yawning, hiding his head against Harry's chest. "I think it's time for a certain little boy to take his nap."

"Not little."

"So you're a big boy now?" Harry said with a smile. Alex gave the affirmative as he was carried back to his room. "Big boys don't sleep with teddies though."

"Yes they do," Alex argued in between yawning.

"Oh they do? Well then, where's Albus and James' teddies?" Harry chuckled.

"I don't know. But I sleep with a teddy," Alex said, grabbing his teddy bear tightly in case Harry took it. The father said nothing as he tucked Alex back into his bed after taking the play robe off his son. He watched as the child drifted off to sleep and smiled. He'd have to see about perhaps tutoring Alex at any rate, realizing the teen (or adult) in the boy wanted to grow up already. But at the end of the day he was just a little boy wanting nothing more than to be big again.

Perhaps he should call Draco up about a possible playdate with his daughter. She was about Alex's age if he recalled.

**Author's Note: I know, I know. This is two entire years late. I'm very sorry about that. I've been on so many different hiatus that I'm honestly confused on what is happening in all my stories. I will be trying to write this again, and if it fails I'll rewrite the entire thing and update this with a new continuation. You'll hopefully get more from me soon this month. No promises on this week, I have a busy life nowadays. Tata for now!**


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